Silence the Distractions: April is Distracted Driving Awareness Month
In order to save lives and educate all Californians, especially young drivers, about the dangers of distracted driving, we are joining the California Office of Traffic Safety (OTS), the California Highway Patrol (CHP), and more than 200 law enforcement agencies statewide to increase education and enforcement efforts for National Distracted Driving Awareness Month in April and California Teen Safe Driving Week, the first week of April.
Distracted driving can have deadly, dangerous consequences. In the average time it takes to check a text message – less than 5 seconds – a car traveling 60 mph will travel more than the length of a football field. With an average of less than a second to react to an urgent situation, drivers need to have all their attention on the roadway. No text, call, or social media update is worth a crash.
The Office of Traffic Safety is using a message of “Silence the Distraction” in new public service announcements aimed at getting drivers to turn off their phones while driving so they won’t be tempted.
In addition, two dates, April 1 and April 15, have been earmarked for special statewide high visibility enforcement days for all law enforcement agencies that are participating in the national traffic safety campaign.
We urge all drivers to silence their cell phones and pay attention to the road. If you have teen drivers in your household, remind them of the dangers of distracted driving and share with them some of the statistics and safety tips outlined below.
Distracted Driving – Key Facts & Stats
- 80 percent of vehicle crashes involve some sort of driver inattention (California Office of Traffic Safety)
- Talking on a cell phone or texting is the number one source of driver distractions (California Office of Traffic Safety)
- Text messaging creates a crash risk 23 times worse than driving while not distracted (National Highway Transportation Safety Administration, VTTI)
- In 2014, nearly 53% of drivers admitted to making a driving mistake while talking on a cell phone (California Traffic Safety Survey)
- In 2014, 61% of California drivers surveyed said they had been hit or nearly hit by a driver who was talking or texting on a cell phone (California Traffic Safety Survey)
Eliminate Distractions While Driving
- Never text and drive
- Turn off your phone when you get behind the wheel
- Don’t text or call someone when you know they are likely to be driving
- No eating or drinking while driving
- Don’t program your GPS, MP3 player or other devices while driving
- Pull over and stop to read maps
- No grooming, reading or watching videos
- Try not to get too involved with passengers
- If something falls to the floor, pull over before trying to reach it
Address/Location
Los Altos Police Department
1 N San Antonio Rd
Los Altos, CA 94022
Contact
Emergency: 9-1-1
Non-emergencies: 650-947-2770