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Not a good idea: rubbernecking, taking a photo and eating a granola bar -- all while driving | Photo by killbox via Flickr
It's the day after the first county-wide zero tolerance distracted driving enforcement campaign and various TV media reports yesterday showed viewers that it was not only about texting and having a cell phone to your ear, but also eating, drinking coffee, reading, doing your makeup and other random things people do during their commute.
Many distracted driving violations are seen when traffic is at a crawl or stopped at an intersection, but that doesn't matter. "Probably upwards of 70 percent of all fender benders are due to distracted driving," a CHP officer told KABC.
It can be also deadly. In 2009, 5,474 deaths and 448,000 injuries are attributed to distracted driving. As one KPCC listener commented on AirTalk's website, a church sign somewhere reads: "Honk if you love Jesus; text while driving if you want to meet him."
And have you noticed? People who text while stopped at a red light are sometimes the ones who don't go when it turns green. That's not dangerous, but it does't help congestion.
Results of the campaign will announced later this month and another zero tolerance day is set for October 26th.
