BEVERLY HILLS—On October 18, the Beverly Hills Police Department announced the “Hang Up and Drive” campaign that will remind motorists of the underrated dangers involved in distracted driving.
The BHPD reports that distracted driving includes activities such as talking on a cellular phone, texting or reading e-mails while driving.
“Distracted driving is extremely dangerous and the public appears to be taking it for granted,” said Lt. Mark Rosen, of the BHPD Traffic Bureau. “Although no one intends to get into an accident, that is very often the result.”
Police are now reinforcing a zero-tolerance policy for motorists who perform activities that may impair their concentration while driving.
“Hands free means hands free,” Rosen says. “If you are holding your phone and using it as a speaker phone you are in violation of the law.”
During the week of October 10 to October 16, BHPD conducted three “focused enforcement operations,” in which officers watched traveling motorists and performed traffic stops on drivers whom they caught using, talking or texting on cell phones. Officers cited 19 drivers during the first two hours, 11 in the following hour and 22 during the last hour of the operation.
The motorists who were cited had been traveling on Rexford past the police station when they received their citations. The final function had taken place on Wilshire Boulevard in front of the old Robinson’s-May building. It was evident that the drivers, who had been traveling eastbound into the city, had ignored an electronic signboard announcing “Cell Phone Laws Strictly Enforced” at the point just before officers performed their checks.
For further information call BHPD’s Traffic Bureau at 310-285-2190.
