Information Detail
04/03/2013
As part of April's Distracted Driving Awareness Month campaign, Traffic Services Detail will be actively ticketing those texting or operating hand-held cell phones on the following Dates and Locations:
April 3, 2013
City of Compton
City of Bellflower
City of West Hollywood
April 7, 2013
City of Lynwood
City of Carson
April 10, 2013
City of Norwalk
April 16, 2013
City of Norwalk
City of Pico Rivera
April 21, 2013
City of Compton
City of Cerritos
April 24, 2013
City of Industry
April 25, 2013
City of West Hollywood
April 30, 2013
City of Bellflower
Coordinated by:
Detective Daniel Dail
Traffic Services Detail
Risk Management Bureau
Leadership & Training Division
Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department
(323) 890-5400
www.lasd.org
Drivers who break the law and place themselves and others in danger will be cited with no warnings. The current minimum ticket cost is $159, with subsequent tickets costing at least $279. Last April, over 57,000 tickets were written statewide for texting and hand-held cell use. There were nearly 450,000 convictions in 2012. Whether it's a ticket or a crash, as the campaign theme states, "It's Not Worth It!"
Distracted driving is a serious traffic safety concern that puts everyone on the road at risk. In recent years, hundreds have been killed and thousands seriously injured in California as a result of collisions that involved at least one driver who was distracted. Nationally, an estimated 3,331 died in 2011. As a result, law enforcement across the state, including Traffic Services Detail Deputies are increasingly cracking down on cell phone use and texting. This April will see over 225 local agencies plus the CHP conducting zero tolerance enforcements.
"We all know that talking on our cell phones while driving is distracting, but that doesn't stop some people from continuing to do it," said Traffic Services Detail's Commanding Officer Captain Shaun J. Mathers "This effort is intended to educate our community about the dangers of cell phone use while driving. We hope that once people see the statistics and realize the danger involved, they will change their driving habits to help protect themselves, their families, and others on the road."
Drivers who use hand-held devices are four times as likely to get into crashes serious enough to injure themselves. Younger, inexperienced drivers under 20 years old have the highest proportion of distraction-related fatal crashes. In addition, studies show that texting while driving can delay a driver's reaction time just as severely as having a blood alcohol content of a legally drunk driver.
Studies also show that there is no difference in the risks between hands-free and hand-held cell phone conversations, both of which can result in "inattention blindness" which occurs when the brain isn't seeing what is clearly visible because the drivers' focus is on the phone conversation and not on the road. When over one third of your brain's functioning that should be on your driving moves over to cell phone talking, you can become a cell phone "zombie."
To avoid a distracted driving ticket or crash, Traffic Services Detail offers drivers the following tips:
Turn off your phone and/or put it out of reach while driving
Include in your outgoing message that you can't answer while you are driving
Don't call or text anyone at a time when you think they may be driving
Partner to prevent or report crime by contacting your local Sheriff's station. Or if you wish to remain Anonymous, call "LA Crime Stoppers" by dialing 800-222-TIPS (8477), texting the letters TIPLA plus your tip to CRIMES (274637), or using the website http://lacrimestoppers.org
Funding for these operations is provided by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety http://www.ots.ca.gov/ through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration http://www.nhtsa.gov/
Captain Mike Parker
Sheriff's Headquarters Bureau - Newsroom
Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department
323-267-4800
Email: SHBNewsroom@lasd.org
Website: http://www.lasd.org
LASD HQ Text and Emails: www.Nixle.com
http://nixle.com/lasd----hq-newsroom-shb-los-angeles-county-sheriff/
Twitter: @LASD_News http://twitter.com/#!/LASD_News
Twitter: @LASDtalk https://twitter.com/LASDTalk
Twitter: @LASDvideos https://twitter.com/LASDvideos
Facebook LASD HQ: http://www.facebook.com/LosAngelesCountySheriffsDepartment
LASD Photos: http://pinterest.com/lacountysheriff/
LASD YouTube Videos: http://www.youtube.com/user/LACountySheriff/videos?view=0
Leroy D. Baca, Sheriff
Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department
To receive detailed, up-to-date information directly from the LASD via e-mail, register for "Nixle" alerts at www.Nixle.com and register for "LASD-HQ Newsroom (SHB), Los Angeles County Sheriff" and also register for your local LASD station area. Or, text your zip code to 888777 to receive text alerts only. Standard text messaging rates may apply, depending on your calling plan.
Address/Location
LASD - HQ Newsroom (SHB), Los Angeles County Sheriff
4700 W Ramona Blvd
Monterey Park, CA 91754
Contact
Emergency: 9-1-1
Contact Information: Detective Daniel Dail - (323) 890-5400,
|
|
|