Harrington PD & OHS Delaware State Fair Non-Traditional Distracted Driving Operation

Harrington Police Department

Chief of Police Norman R. Barlow

Harrington Police Conduct Traffic Initiative for 2019 Delaware State Fair

For Immediate Release

Harrington, DE (August 2, 2019) – During the 10 days of the 2019 Delaware State Fair, the Harrington Police Department conducted several patrols within the city limits targeting distracted driving. These patrols were in conjunction with the Office of Highway Safety 2019 Delaware State Fair Initiative. Officers on patrol worked 4 hours a day and 3 officers were assigned to each patrol. 183 tickets were issued over the 10-day course of the fair.

“The Harrington Police Department is committed to ensuring drivers are keeping their eyes on the road through these non-traditional techniques to enforce the law and provide education. We want people to have fun in Harrington at the Delaware State Fair, but we also want visitors to travel to and from as safely as possible,” Captain Earl K. Brode, Public Information Officer, Harrington Police Department.

With the increase of both pedestrian traffic and motor vehicle traffic during the Delaware State Fair, the Harrington Police Department’s primary goal is to ensure the safety of all the citizens who live in Harrington and those who come to visit the Delaware State Fair.

Totals for Delaware State Fair 10-day patrols are listed below:
Total Cell Phone Citations: 105
Speeding Citations: 22
Other Traffic Citations: 41
Seatbelt Citations: 14
Drug Arrests: 1

 

“With the increased traffic activity surrounding the Delaware State Fair, the Delaware Office of Highway Safety was pleased to partner with the Harrington Police Department in support of their Distracted Driving efforts. Drivers need to be hyper-vigilant and truly focus on road changes where traffic patterns differ due to events like this.  Events aren’t an excuse to use your phone and lose sight of the road,” Sarah Cattie, Distracted Driving Program Manager, Delaware Office of Highway Safety.

 

Media Contacts:

Captain Earl K. Brode

Public Information Officer

Harrington Police Department

Earl.Brode@CJ.State.DE.US

Marketing Specialist Cynthia Cavett

Public Information Officer

Office of Highway Safety

Cynthia.Cavett@delaware.gov 

DE OHS logo

About the Delaware Office of Highway Safety
The Office of Highway Safety (OHS) is committed to improving the safety of Delaware’s motoring public by focusing on behavioral traffic safety issues such as impaired driving, seat belt use, speeding, child passenger safety, pedestrian and bicycle safety, motorcycle safety, and teen driving issues. FAQs can be found at ArriveAliveDE.com.


Seaford Police Department Non-traditional Distracted Driving Operation a Success

Seaford Police Department
Phone: (302) 629-6644
Address: 300 Virginia Avenue, Seaford, DE 19973
Fax: (302) 629-0672
EMERGENCY 911

 

Seaford Police Department Non-traditional Distracted Driving Operation a Success

 

08/01/2019

 

In June and July of 2019, the Seaford Police Department, in conjunction with the Delaware Office of Highway Safety, conducted ‘Operation Cool Down,’ a non-traditional distracted driving operation throughout the city of Seaford.

 

“The mission of this operation is to make the roadways in the city of Seaford a safer place to travel,” Master Corporal Eric Chambers, Public Information Officer, Seaford Police Department.

 

During ‘Operation Cool Down,’ non-traditional policing methods were utilized to include plain-clothes officers operating in unmarked vehicles such as family-style sedans, dump trucks, and utility vehicles. Upon seeing a violation, the plain-clothes officers would then contact uniformed officers participating in the operation who would then conduct traffic stops in marked vehicles to issue citations. Most successful times for enforcement citations occurred between 4 PM and 8 PM every day.

 

“The Delaware Office of Highway Safety is pleased to support the Seaford Police Department’s non-distracted driving initiative, ‘Operation Cool Down,’ to enforce cell phone violations. With increased travel during the summer season, it’s imperative that drivers focus on the road and not the feed. Seaford Police Department has been a great partner in enforcing and educating the public using covert spotter techniques to conduct a successful operation,” Distracted Driving Program Manager, Sarah Cattie, Office of Highway Safety.

 

Totals for nine patrols over two months are listed below:
Total Cell Phone Citations: 114
Other Traffic Citations: 89
Seatbelt Citations: 41
Wanted Person Apprehensions: 2
Child Restraint Citations: 2
Drug Arrests: 2
Speeding Citations: 1

 

 

This operation was in response to over 80 calls for service involving distracted driving complaints in a three-month time frame. 67 of those complaints involved speeding/aggressive driving and/or distracted driving. Other complaints involved passing stopped school buses. In the same three-month period there were 165 complaints involving motor vehicle collisions on major roadways in the city of Seaford.

 

Master Corporal Eric Chambers

Public Information Officer

Seaford Police Department

Eric.Chambers@CJ.State.de.us

 

Marketing Specialist Cynthia Cavett

Public Information Officer

Office of Highway Safety

Cynthia.Cavett@delaware.gov

 

About the Delaware Office of Highway Safety
The Office of Highway Safety (OHS) is committed to improving the safety of Delaware’s motoring public by focusing on behavioral traffic safety issues such as impaired driving, seat belt use, speeding, child passenger safety, pedestrian and bicycle safety, motorcycle safety, and teen driving issues. FAQs can be found at ArriveAliveDE.com.


Delaware Joins National Anti-Texting Effort to Save Lives

Dover- April is national Distracted Driving Awareness month and from April 10 to 15, 2015. Delaware will join law enforcement across the nation to crack down on handheld cell phone use and/or texting by motorists using a combination of traditional and innovative strategies. This effort is a part of the national U Drive. U Text. U Pay high-visibility enforcement campaign that combines intense enforcement of anti-texting laws with advertising and media outreach to let people know about the enforcement and convince them to obey the law.

Delaware law enforcement will also expand their crack down on handheld cell phone use to April 23-27. Participating agencies include Camden PD, Delaware City PD, Dover PD, Georgetown PD, Middletown PD, Milford PD, Millsboro PD, New Castle County PD, Newark PD, Wilmington PD, Wyoming PD, and Delaware State Police. Delaware law enforcement have issued over 54,600 cell phone tickets since the law went into effect on January 2, 2011. Enforcement will be coupled with paid media ads and awareness activities.

Delaware’s handheld cellphone law bans texting while driving as well as bans the use of hand-held cell phones.  Drivers are required to utilize hands-free technology in order to use a cell phone while driving.   It also bans the use of pagers, blackberry’s, PDA’s, laptops, games, or the use of any other electronic device by someone while driving. If you have to make a call, pull over to a safe place to use your cell phone or use a hands free device like a blue tooth.

If a police officer observes you using a handheld device while driving they can pull you over and give you a ticket. The fine and fees for a first offense cell phone violation is $106. If you get caught again penalties increase and can go up to $300.

The trauma department at Nemours/Alfred I. DuPont Hospital for Children will be offering a free distracted driving event on April 1st from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Visitors can see the consequences of distracted driving first hand when they try to navigate the distracted driving simulator. Individuals can also take the pledge to not drive distracted and receive a free gift. Visitors will also have the opportunity to hear from a local family about how a distracted driver took the life of their daughter just before her upcoming wedding.

The AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety released a report looking at crash data involving thousands of teen drivers. The report finds that distracted driving contributes to 58% of teen driver vehicle crashes nationally and shows that distracted driving is more than just texting. It also highlights the importance of Graduated Driver Licensing (GDL) laws and passenger restrictions for young drivers.

According to a 2014 special article in the New England Journal of Medicine, the risk of a crash or near-crash among novice drivers increased with the performance of many secondary tasks, including texting and dialing cell phones.

The University of Michigan’s Transportation Research Institute’s 2012 “Teen Driver Distraction Study” reports that a quarter of teens respond to a text message once or more every time they drive, and 20 percent of teens and 10 percent of parents admit that they have extended, multi-message text conversations while driving.

“Texting and driving requires motorists to take their eyes off the road, hands off the wheel, and mind off the task of driving. It greatly enhances the likelihood of crashing and puts everyone on the road at risk,” said Jana Simpler, director for the Delaware Office of Highway Safety.

The successes of the Click It or Ticket and Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over campaigns have proven that the combination of tough laws, targeted advertising, and high-visibility enforcement can change people’s risky traffic safety behaviors. This strategy was implemented as part of the Phone in One Hand. Ticket in the Other distraction demonstration effort in Hartford, Connecticut, and Syracuse, New York, in 2010 and 2011, and then in Delaware and Sacramento County in 2012 and 2013. In both projects, texting (and cell phone use) declined dramatically. Based on these encouraging results, the U.S. Department of Transportation developed the U Drive. U Text. U Pay national campaign.

For more information, please visit www.distraction.gov, http://www.ohs.delaware.gov/distracted.shtml, http://www.dmv.de.gov/services/driver_services/teen/index.shtml, www.teendriving.aaa.com/DE/.


Commissioner Stewart Addresses Teen Driving Safety As Prom Season Approaches

Dover, DE–Insurance Commissioner Karen Weldin Stewart suggests that parents set aside time to discuss the importance of safe driving practices, especially in regards to attending prom and related after-parties, as motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for 15- to 20-year olds in the U.S (1). Safe driving practices are important to enforce year-round but parents can help their teens make better decisions by discussing specific driving guidelines, and the consequences of violating those rules, especially when it comes to attending special events like prom.

Many teen drivers simply lack the experience to recognize and respond to hazardous driving situations and are thus more likely to engage in dangerous practices like speeding and becoming distracted by passengers in their car. Teens are more likely to be in an accident if other teens are present in the vehicle. It’s important to set clear limits on how many occupants are allowed in your teen’s car.

It should also be noted that under Delaware’s Level One Learner’s Permit restrictions the law states, “No passengers other than an adult supervisor and 1 other passenger can be in the vehicle during the entire first 12 months of valid driving authority. However, the passenger restrictions of this paragraph do not apply to immediate members of the driver’s family as long as the adult supervisor is in the car.” The law further states, “During the second 6 month period of unsupervised driving, when a supervisor is not present, only 1 other passenger in addition to the driver can be in the vehicle.”

Commissioner Stewart added, “One of the biggest distractions of all is often a driver’s cellphone. Delaware law forbids the use of handheld cellphone use and texting while driving for drivers of all ages. Nationally, 20% of teens and 10% of adults admit that they have extended text message conversations while driving (2). Nobody should text and drive, no matter their age.” Young drivers on the Level One Learner’s Permit are forbidden from cellphone use entirely. In 2011, 11 percent of all drivers age 15 to 19 involved in fatal accidents were distracted at the time of crash; 21 percent of those drivers were distracted by their cellphone (3).

In 2011, 32 percent of drivers aged 15 to 20 involved in a fatal automobile crash were drinking (4). In a study by Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD), it was found that when parents used clear “no use” messages, teens were 80 percent less likely to drink(5). Parents should discuss specific plans for where their teen will be going after the prom and confirm with other adults that alcohol and drug-use will not be allowed in any of those settings. Parents are encouraged to set a curfew as well, and many require that their son or daughter call them before they drive home, or are driven home, to ensure that no drivers have been drinking.

One of the most important, and easy, safety practices to follow is to always use a seatbelt. In 2010, 56% of drivers age 15 to 20 who were killed in car crashes after drinking and driving were not wearing a seat belt(6). Seat belts should always be worn by anyone riding in a vehicle, no matter what.

Commissioner Stewart added, “Going to the prom is a fun and exciting occasion for teens, and parents can help make sure that their sons and daughters will make it home safely at the end of the night. Taking just a few minutes to discuss your teen’s after-prom plans, curfew and driving expectations can have a large, positive impact on their decision making process.”

Parents are encouraged to visit the “Parents Are the Key” website run by the Centers for Disease Control, at www.cdc.gov/parentsarethekey/. This website has a “Parent-Teen Driving Agreement” that you can print out and review with your teen. It’s a great tool for guiding a discussion about safe driving expectations and the consequences of breaking the rules that you put in place.

(1) Source: National Center for Health Statistics
(2) Source: Univ. of Michigan Transportation Research Institute
(3) Source: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
(4) Source: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
(5) Source: MADD online survey, September 2013
(6) Source: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

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Delaware Department of Insurance: “Protecting Delawareans through regulation and education while providing oversight of the insurance industry to best serve the public.”


Delaware Participates in the U Drive. U Text. U Pay. National Distracted Driving Enforcement Campaign

One day enforcement blitz April 11th

Dover- Delaware Office of Highway Safety (OHS) and Delaware law enforcement agencies are once again asking motorists to show how much they care about their loved ones by putting the phone down while driving.  Law enforcement will be ticketing those who don’t follow the law during a statewide one-day enforcement blitz on April 11th as part of the U Drive. U Text. U Pay. campaign running nationwide from April 10-15.

Distracted driving consists of any non-driving activity that has the potential to distract the driver from the primary task: driving.   In 2013, Delaware saw 149 cell phone related crashes and law enforcement issued over 19,500 cell phone citations.

Delaware’s cell phone law bans texting while driving.  Drivers are also required to utilize hands-free technology in order to use a cell phone to talk while driving.   It also bans the use of pagers, blackberry’s, PDA’s, laptops, games, or the use of any other electronic device while driving. If you have to make a call, pull over to a safe place to use your cell phone or use a hands free device such as a blue tooth.

Delaware’s cell phone law is a primary offense. If a police officer observes you using a handheld device while driving they can stop you for the violation and cite you $50 for your first offense ($106 total with fees).  If you get caught again penalties can increase to $300.  Violations do not incur points on your driver’s license. Since 2011, when the law went into effect, there have been over 35,000 cell phone citations issued statewide.

Get the facts:

  • 20-24 yr olds are the most over-represented in cell phone related crashes, with 25-29 yr olds second, and 19 yrs and under a very close 3rd. Of those crashes, 55% are caused by a person under the age of 30.
  • Males account for 55% of crashes and females 45%.
  • 62% of cell phone related crashes have occurred in New Castle County.
  • 22% have occurred in Sussex County, and 16% have occurred in Kent County.
  • Friday trends much higher than other days for cell phone related crashes.
  • Cell phone crashes normally increase in rate around lunch time and between 1:00 a.m. to 2:00 a.m. when bars close.

For more information on distracted driving, please visit www.distraction.gov/delaware or ohs.delaware.gov/cellphone.