Crime & Safety
$20K Grant Helps Tucson Police Target Drivers Looking At Phones
Tucson drivers addicted to using your phones, beware. A new grant is helping Tucson police crack down on Hands Free Ordinance violators.
TUCSON, AZ — A recently awarded $20,000 Distracted Driving Enforcement and Education Grant will give the Tucson Police Department more funding to target drivers using smartphones in violation of the city's Hands Free Ordinance.
The grant from the Arizona Governor’s Office of Highway Safety means that TPD has started and will continue to embark on about 80 enforcement deployments to find drivers not complying with the ordinance now through September 2020. The Hands Free Ordinance passed in January 2018 states that drivers cannot use any handheld technology device on the road, even when stopped at a light. The police deployment locations were selected based on crash data statistics, and the first offense will cost drivers $163.
TPD will also use the grant to fund presentation of 16 classes at high schools during the school year to educate teens about the dangers of distracted driving.
Find out what's happening in Tucsonfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.