• 13
  • July
    2011

PennDOT has launched a $2.1 million statewide initiative to help police target aggressive driving behaviors that lead to car crashes and truck accidents. The crackdown even has a theme: "Distracted drivers are aggressive drivers."

Drivers who are texting while driving or reading messages on their cell phones while driving are a particular hazard. Not only are their eyes not on the road, but their hands are not on the wheel and their mind is not on the task of driving. In 2009, 20 percent of all injury-causing accidents were the result of distracted driving. In fatal car accidents, 18 percent involved distracted driving, often cell phone use.

Police will be looking for Pennsylvania drivers who are driving aggressively by:

  • Speeding
  • Tailgating
  • Running red lights
  • Failing to stop at stop signs

From now until the end of August 2011, state police and some 320 municipal police departments will be monitoring roads that are known to have a high number of aggressive-driving-related crashes. The roadways under surveillance will not be announced and officers will be writing citations.

Pennsylvania currently has no statewide limits on cell phone use while driving.  Philadelphia and Harrisburg ban handheld cell phone and text messaging while driving. Wilkes-Barre, Erie and Allentown ban handheld cell phone use (cell phone use is allowed with a hands-free device). 

It seems likely that the next legislative session will see passage of one or more cell-phone-related driving bills. That should be good news for all drivers on the road, but especially for the parents of teens, who are statistically at the greatest risk of being involved in a fatal car accident from distracted driving.