Point Boro Police Set For Distracted Driving Crackdown

Point Pleasant NJ

25 March, 2022

5:34 AM

Description

POINT PLEASANT, NJ — Do you text and drive? Point Pleasant police will have extra patrols in place through the month of April looking for drivers who do to crack down on distracted driving. Point Pleasant Borough police said the "UDrive. UText. UPay" campaign will be high visibility and focused on people who are talking on cell phones or sending text messages while driving. The extra patrols are paid for by federal funding that pays for overtime to increase patrols and increase enforcement of distracted driving In 2019 there were 3,142 people killed and more than 400,000 people injured in crashes nationally that resulted from distracted driving, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Sending or reading a text takes your eyes off the road for 5 seconds. At 55 mph, it's like driving the length of a football field with your eyes closed, the police department said. Distracted driving includes talking or texting on your phone, eating and drinking, fiddling with the radio, entertainment or navigation system, talking to your passengers — "anything that takes your attention away from safe driving," authorities said. Driver inattention is responsible for more than seven times the number of New Jersey crashes due to high speeds during the stretch from 2015 to 2019, authorities have said, and driver inattention contributed to nearly 49 percent of New Jersey crashes in 2019. Sign up for Patch alerts and daily newsletters here, or download our app to have breaking news alerts sent right to your phone. Have a news tip? Email [email protected] Follow Point Pleasant Patch on Facebook.