Franklin Lakes PD to Crack Down on Texting While Driving During 'U Drive. U Text. U Pay.' Campaign April 10-15

As part of the “U Drive. U Text. U Pay.” national campaign, the Franklin Lakes Police Department will crack down on motorists who text while driving from April 10 to April 15 by using “a combination of traditional and innovative strategies.”

The campaign, which combines intense enforcement of anti-texting laws with advertising and media outreach to let people know about the enforcement and convince them to obey the law, aims to combat distracted driving that may result in injury or death.

According to the Franklin Lakes Police Department, 3,154 people were killed and an estimated additional 424,000 were injured in motor vehicle crashes involving distracted drivers in 2013. This represents a 6.7 percent decrease in the number of fatalities recorded in 2012.

A 2014 special article in the New England Journal of Medicine found that the risk of a crash or near-crash among novice drivers increased with the performance of many secondary tasks, including texting and dialing cell phones.

Similarly, the University of Michigan’s Transportation Research Institute’s 2012 “Teen Driver Distraction Study” reports that a quarter of teens respond to a text message once or more every time they drive, and 20 percent of teens and 10 percent of parents admit that they have extended, multi-message text conversations while driving.

“The successes of the Click It or Ticket and Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over campaigns have proven that the combination of tough laws, targeted advertising, and high-visibility enforcement can change people’s risky traffic safety behaviors,” the Franklin Lakes Police Department said.

The national “U Drive. U Text. U Pay.” campaign came as a result of New York and Connecticut’s successful “Phone in One Hand, Ticket in the Other” campaign, in which texting and cell phone use declined dramatically.

The Franklin Lakes Police Department would also like to remind motorists of the fines for talking on a phone without a Hands-Free device or texting while driving:

• First Offense: $206 - $406
• Second Offense: $406 - $606
• Third Offense: $606 - $806 plus 3 points and possible 90 day suspension of license

For more information, visit www.distraction.gov