SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS RADIO) – It just got a lot harder to get away with texting and driving in California.
The California Highway Patrol has just kicked off a year-long campaign to crack down on distracted driving.
Crashes, from people on their phones – whether it's texting, talking, looking at maps or an app – are 100% preventable.
But despite years and years of warnings from officials, the issue is still pervasive on the state’s highways today.
"We see it all the time," said Redwood City CHP Officer Art Montiel. "We don't see it as much when we’re in the patrol car but when we're heading home in our own personal vehicles we see it all the time."
Now, with a year-long grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety, CHP has enough funds to assign officers to be on the lookout solely for distracted driving.
"You never know when we're going to be out there because we just happen to pick a day and we'll go out there and just start enforcing it," said Montiel.
Nearly 10,000 people were hurt in distracted driving-caused crashes from October 2021 to September 2022 in California.
"We need them to be paying attention – and it's not just them having their cell phone up to their ear – it's just by being involved in a conversation that could automatically distract them from actually paying attention to the driving," he said.
So even if people have a conversation through a phone that's hooked up to the car, it's advisable to wait to have that conversation later, he said.
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