Crime & Safety

Police Issue 93 Distracted Driving Citations on April 18

MBPD is participating in the Distracted Driving campaign for April by increasing patrols. Distracted drivers are being cited, warned and given an education into what counts as distracted driving and what doesn't. Honesty is oftentimes the best policy.

A special effort to educate and enforce laws against distracted drivers in MB on Wednesday, April 18 resulted in 78 citations for cell phone use, 15 for texting and one warning for distracted speed, said Mark Mason of the MB  Police Department. 

The focused enforcement is part of MBPD's participation in Distracted Driving Month, as traffic patrol jurisdictions raise awareness in California during April, said Mason.

Mason wrote 26 of the April 18 citations and said that five motorcycle officers joined four patrol cars in the enforcement on April 18.

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"We've always paid attention to it [distracted driving]," said Mason on Friday. He said that drivers should drive with both hands free at all times. He said that drivers don't always know that it's illegal to take their eyes off the road to hit a button to answer a cell phone or to look at an email or text message.

On April 3, another special enforcement day in light of Distracted Driving Month, one patrol car and four motorcycle officers provided enforcement. 

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Mason said that "if I can see the phone, I'm going after them," noting that drivers don't realize how any moment they aren't paying full attention to the road can result in harm to themselves and others.

He said that even when drivers are slowing down or stopped at a red light or stop sign, putting one's hands on a cell or smart phone isn't kosher because a driver needs to remain in physical control of the vehicle at all times.

The excuses he's heard from pulled over distracted drivers range from being honest, saying "You got me" or "I'm sorry...", to "My mom is sick" or stating some other seemingly legitimate case, including a family emergency or a kid calling. Drivers also like to say, "It beeped, so I picked it up." or "I was only reading a text."

None of these answers work, said Mason, though some result in a warning versus a citation.

"Obviously, we're out there catching a lot of people," said Mason. "We're trying to educate them; we're trying to take a zero tolerance approach."


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