April is Distracted Driving Awareness Month, and the Concord Police Department will be actively looking for drivers throughout the month who are in violation of the state’s hands-free cell phone law.
“Holding your phone and using it while driving is not only dangerous, but also illegal,” Concord Police Department, Lt. Mark Robison said. “For the safety of your family and others on the road, put the phone away and focus on driving.”
According to the 2021 California Statewide Public Opinion Survey, nearly three out of every four drivers surveyed said that distracted driving because of texting was their biggest safety concern. In 2019, the California Highway Patrol (CHP) issued nearly 20,000 citations during the month of April to drivers for hands-free cell phone law violations.
Under current law, drivers are not allowed to hold a phone or electronic communications device while operating a vehicle. This includes talking, texting, or using an app. Using a handheld cell phone while driving is punishable by a fine. Violating the hands-free law for a second time within 36 months of a prior conviction for the same offense will result in a point being added to a driver’s record.
If I got $10 every time I got stuck behind some boob on their phone texting at a light sitting there oblivious when it turns green I’d be rich.
That sort of goes along with alcohol awareness month.
It seems like the modern day driver could care less about the rules of the road, Kind of like this is MY road get out of the way. Plus way to many distractions in the new cars. Back in the day a car had a steering wheel, gas pedal, brakes, horn, mirrors and if you were lucky, a radio.
Well Bill, I tend to agree with you. But, back in the early 70’s the population in California was 20 million people. The population is now 40 million people! So my guess is that there are twice as many cars, idiots, dumb sh*ts and distracted drivers. You can add to that the dope smokers too. GOD help us!
Now Im confused! The previous story said it was alcohol awareness month and I’m down with that – I love being aware of where my alcohol is and how much I have left. I probably couldn’t get along without such tracking. Now I’m supposed to track on my distracted driving? I’m not sure I can handle both tasks at the same time (and I think the law would frown on my trying to do both while driving), but I’ll give it a go.
@Phil….It makes sense now why you make some of the comments you do on Claycord. Bottoms Up!
April is also “Alcohol Awareness Month”, but I wasn’t paying attention.
As someone who developed mobile apps starting in the late 1990s (Palm Pilot) I don’t think we expected people to live on them like they do these days. I think we saw it as more of a utility for use as needed and to make that occasional phone call.
I got my first cellphone in the early 1990s but didn’t really use it that much. I thought it was handy to have on trips for emergencies or to let someone know that I might be arriving late due to traffic.
I have my phone with me in the car but I made a practice on not taking calls unless I am on a city street where I can pull over. Nothing wrong with letting it go to voicemail.
@Captain Bebops….How could you not answer your phone immediately? I have to know when my every acquaintance takes a crap and if they wipe front to back or back to front, you know, the important stuff in life.
@nytemuvr, 🤣 you mean like those important notifications that come from NextDoor aka NextDog? Those are not the droids you are looking for! 🤖
At almost every intersection I see at least one driver on their phone. On the freeway you can spot them swerve from side to side. As you pass they are usually looking at the phone and not the roads
The guy just in front of me on the way home from Safeway must have been watching porn. From one side of the road to the other. I just slowed down and fell back about a half a block.
@Ricardoh…. Driving one-handed is tough for some people.
And the other 11 months are not?
I’d rather it be designated as “Don’t elect a Democrat Awareness Month” since they’ve destroyed California and many of the Cities…
And nobody will pay any attention to this at all…..You can’t drive or walk anywhere on the streets without seeing multiple drivers looking at their phones instead of the road. It is like they don’t even know that they are driving a very heavy machine, sometimes at great speed….
They don’t seem to care that at any moment they could crash and cause serious injury to themselves or others….or worse. It just doesn’t occur to them and they have convinced themselves that they really ARE paying attention. Of course it doesn’t take much deep thought to realize that they are not.
I was waiting for my car to be serviced and this guy was walking on the sidewalk, entranced by his phone, and proceeded to run into me. He was upset because I didn’t get out of his way. Maybe he should go to the Grand Canyon for his next vacation.
I’d like to see a greater crackdown by law enforcement. This is a public safety issue.
It’s a beautiful day to go outside in nature and talk on your phone. ;););)
Which they tend to do a lot around here. And moms will take their kids to the park and instead of watching them become engaged in gossip on their phone (while their kid runs into you on his microbike). 😲
If you are a responsible person, you have nothing to do.
If you are not a responsible person, you have a great deal to do.
Two idiots I have seen recently……..
One idiot driving on I-80 driving with the seat way back and steering with his knees so he could text. I was in a higher up vantage point going the same direction.
The other idiot was riding his 10-20 speed bicycle with no hands so he could do the same thing.
People caught doing this should have their vehicles impounded a couple of times and then on the third offense have it crushed on site.
Just taking their licenses away will not stop these fools.
They should just combine them into Distracted Driving while Drunk Awareness Month.
Because we all need to be reminded not to to drive while distracted and drunk.