Eatontown Police To Crack Down On Distracted Drivers

EATONTOWN, NJ - You've been warned. Put down that cell phone while you're driving.

Eatontown police will be looking for you during their upcoming distracted driving campaign - UDrive. UText. UPay. - which will run from April 1 through April 21, according to the police department's Facebook page.

The high visibility campaign will target anyone caught talking on hand-held cell phones and sending text messages will they are driving.

“Distracted driving is possibly the most serious safety issue on our roadways today,” said Gary Poedubicky, Acting Director of the New Jersey Division of Highway Traffic Safety. "The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports that in 2015 alone, 3,477 people were killed in distracted driving crashes and an estimated 391,000 people were injured in motor vehicle crashes involving a distracted driver.”

Driver inattention was listed as a contributing circumstance in 52 percent of New Jersey's crashes in 2015, he said.

The New Jersey campaign is modeled after other successful enforcement programs such as Click It or Ticket and Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over.

Logo: Courtesy of Eatontown Police Department