Michigan State Police Cracking Down on Distracted Drivers

The Michigan State Police will be cracking down on distracted drivers.

April is Distracted Driving Awareness month and the Michigan State Police is part of the national “U Drive, U Text, U Pay” high-visibility enforcement campaign.  The campaign has two goals -- to conduct enforcement of distracted driving laws and to advertise these efforts on social media and the media.

According to the MSP, texting and driving is dangerous because it involves three types of distraction. Visually, you're taking your eyes off the road. Manually, you're taking your hands off the steering wheel. Cognitively, you're taking your mind off the task of driving.

Michigan law prohibits drivers from reading, manually typing or sending a text message while driving. Anyone convicted of a first offense can be fined $100. Subsequent offense can cost up to $200.

The MSP cites National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration statistics which say that 3,450 people were killed in nationwide motor vehicle crashes involving distracted drivers in 2016. Distracted rivers make up 9.2 percent of all fatal crashes.

According to the Michigan State Criminal Police Criminal Justice Information Center, there were 12,788 distracted driving crashes in Michigan in 2016, resulting in 43 fatalities and 5,103 injuries.

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