During the month of April, the Downey Police Department joined the Office of Traffic Safety, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), as well as law enforcement throughout the country, working together to focus on education as well as enforcement.
During the month of April, motorists caught violating their local distracted driver laws received a clear message from law enforcement. The campaign objectives are twofold: strongly enforce distracted driving laws and use advertising, media, and social media outreach to let drivers know about the enforcement campaign and to convince them to obey the law.
Downey Police Department issued 196 citations to violators of California’s cell phone law and 38 citations to violators of California’s texting law during the month of April. The laws provide that;
“A personal shall not drive a motor vehicle while using a wireless telephone unless that telephone is specifically designed and configured to allow hands-free listening and talking, and is used in that manner while driving.”
And
“A person shall not drive a motor vehicle while using an electronic wireless communications device to write, send, or read a text based communication, unless the electronic wireless communications device is specifically designed and configured to allow voice-operated and hands-free operation to dictate, send, or listen to a text-based communication, and it is used in that manner while driving.”
Additionally, the Downey Police Department joined the statewide enforcement campaigns on April 7th and 20th, “zero tolerance days,” when all agencies were especially vigilant for distracted drivers. During these two days, the Downey Police department issued 23 citations for cell phone violations and 3 citations for texting violations.
“This national campaign may be over, but our law enforcement officers will continue enforcing anti-cell phone laws, and all other traffic safety laws designed to keep our road users safe,” said Chief Carl Charles.
For more information, please visit www.distraction.gov
Contact: Sgt. Perry Miller
Special Operations
Phone: 562-904-2342
[email protected]
