UHP to increase enforcement during Distracted Driving Awareness Month

SALT LAKE CITY — Monday marked the start of Distracted Driving Awareness Month.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration states that distracted driving has become a deadly epidemic across the county, and Utah is no exception.

In 2023, 21 people were killed as a result of distracted driving. According to state data, of the 52 fatalities on Utah roads so far this year, two have been caused by distracted driving.

"Distracted driving is actually underreported when it comes to the statistics and the numbers that we look at," said Utah Highway Patrol Sgt. Cameron Roden.

According to a survey of U.S. adult drivers conducted by insurance company Nationwide, 43% of noncommercial drivers admit to eating while behind the wheel and a shocking 30% admit to reading or responding to work texts.

Despite that, Roden said distracted driving has increased over the last few years.

According to Roden, distractions can be physical, visual or even mental. They can range from eating and drinking to doing makeup to adjusting your radio or GPS. There are even distractions outside of the car.

But the most prevalent distraction is using a cellphone to not only call or text but to also check social media.

"An average text takes about five seconds of your eyes off the roadway, and in that at 55 mph, in that five seconds, you're going to travel over the length of a football field blind," Roden said.

The Nationwide survey stated that 92% of consumer drivers and 80% of commercial drivers admit that in the last 12 months that they are looking at their phone more often while behind the wheel — this, considered with another finding in the same survey that found that 88% of consumer drivers and 78% of commercial drivers admit to driving faster than they did a year ago, suggests a disturbing trend of a rise in potentially fatal driving behaviors.

Here are some tips from UHP to keep in mind: If you need to send a text, pull over or have a passenger send the text for you.

Ultimately, "it's up to the driver to know what type of distractions they are most prone to," Roden said.

Interestingly, the Nationwide survey found that 8 in 10 noncommercial drivers consider their driving to be "excellent," but only 14% of those drivers say that they would extend the same praise to others.

Roden said that from April 1 to April 14, UHP, along with 39 other agencies across the state, will increase enforcement, working an extra 365 shifts to help spot distracted driving.

Drivers should remember that demonstrating behavior on the road that is seen as aggressive driving is grounds for being stopped and cited. In the Nationwide survey, 90% of consumer drivers and 76% of commercial drivers admitted to driving more aggressively than they did a year ago.

"We've tried to make sure this is data-driven at areas where we've seen problems with distracted driving. That's where we place those shifts," Roden said.

He is urging drivers to put away those distractions.

"Hopefully, we can change some behaviors by raising awareness in April, but hopefully, we will see it last year-round," he said.

For more tips to keep in mind, visit nhtsa.gov/risky-driving/distracted-driving.

Contributing: Sky Mundell

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