Drivers texting on your phones, be warned: Traffic officers are not “LOL.”
The Denver Police Department recently finished a two-day traffic operation aimed at enforcing rules against and educating drivers about distracted driving.
During the two-day operation near South Santa Fe Drive and West Evans Avenue, Denver police traffic officers wrote 15 citations for texting while driving or other forms of distracted driving.
Officers also gave out 36 citations for other violations, including speeding.
The violators included a woman who was pulled over while applying makeup with both hands and another person who was trying to set an iPod while eating breakfast.
The operation is part of the department’s “Put It Down” campaign, an effort to get drivers to put away their phones and mobile devices while on the road.
“The people who choose to indulge in distracted driving behaviors are not only a danger to themselves but to everyone on the road around them,” the Denver Police Department said Wednesday in a news release.
If an officer feels that the use of a mobile device or any other activity is interfering with a person’s ability to drive safely, the officer can cite the driver for careless or reckless driving.
According to a recent study by Carnegie Mellon University, using a mobile device while driving reduces the amount of brain activity applied to driving by 37 percent.
And, according to a study by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, drivers who use a hand-held device are four times more likely to get injured in a car crash.
In 2009, almost 5,500 people died and nearly 450,000 were injured in crashes involving a distracted driver, and distracted driving was reported in 20 percent of traffic accidents causing injury, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
Mitchell Byars: 303-954-1698 or mbyars@denverpost.com
