During the month of April 2015, Officers will be conducting a special traffic enforcement emphasis looking for motorists that drive while distracted.  Officers will emphasize enforcing the cell phone use laws.

Mobile phone use while driving is common but widely considered dangerous.  Due to the number of collisions that are related to cell phone use while driving, the State of Washington has made the use of a cell phone without a hands free device while driving illegal.

Cell phone driving statistics:

–  Distraction from cell phone use while driving (hand held or hands free) extends a driver’s reaction time as much as having a blood alcohol concentration at the legal limit of .08 percent. (University of Utah)

–  The number one source of driver inattention is use of a wireless device. (Virginia Tech/NHTSA)

– Drivers that use cell phones are four times as likely to get into crashes serious enough to injure themselves. (NHTSA, Insurance Institute for Highway Safety)

– 10 percent of drivers aged 16 to 24 years old are on their phone at any one time.

– Driving while distracted is a factor in 25 percent of police reported crashes.

– Driving while using a cell phone reduces the amount of brain activity associated with driving by 37 percent. (Carnegie Mellon)

The use of a cell phone while driving is a traffic infraction with a fine imposed in the amount of $124.00.  Bonney Lake Police Officers for the month of April, 2015 will impose a no tolerance policy on these violations as well as other incidents of distracted driving and will be issuing traffic infractions in an attempt to reduce motor vehicle collisions.