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News

Distraction By the Numbers: 2,187+ Citations for LA County Drivers During 2-Day Ticket Blitz

By  Lindsay William-Ross
Published Apr 10, 2011 11:00 PM
texting-while-driving.jpg
Photo by stevendamron via Flickr
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The numbers are in, and boy are we distracted. Distracted drivers, that is. The California Highway Patrol, working with 280 police and sheriff's departments, issued at least 2,187 citations over a two-day period for three kinds of distracted driving violations in Los Angeles County. The figures from the concentrated April 4-5 campaign are preliminary, cautions the CHP, since not all the involved agencies have reported their data from the effort.Here is how the citations broke down into the three categories in Los Angeles County:

  • 1840 citations issued for violation of Vehicle Code section 23123(a) - for Hand Held Cell Phones /CVC section 23124(b) - Cell Phone use, Under 18.
  • 195 citations issued for Vehicle Code section 23123.5(a) - Texting or Reading electronic device while driving.
  • 152 citations for ‘other’ distracted driving violations; i.e. - weaving, impeding traffic, failure to stop for red lights/stop signs, etc.

The tickets are part of a month-long campaign to combat distracted driving, and to raise awareness of the perils of taking your eyes off the road for even just a moment to text, make a phone call, or other activities (eat yogurt, read the paper, put on mascara, change into your gym shoes, and so on).

Heads up, drivers. And we really mean heads up: The CHP and local authorities will go on another distracted driving ticket blitz April 19-20.

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