Free Republic

TACOMA, Wash. — State troopers are responding to an increased number of traffic collisions near an Interstate 5 construction zone in Tacoma. “We’re looking at a little more than two collisions that happen on this stretch per day,” Trooper Robert Royer with the Washington State Patrol said. The data provided by the agency, which covers the distance between milepost 132 (near state Route 16 exit) to milepost 136 (near the Port of Tacoma Road exit), shows traffic collisions are up 33% since 2019. With more than 400 collisions already reported this year (so far), troopers are responding to at least...

KEESEVILLE — State troopers disguised as construction workers issued 26 tickets Tuesday in the “Operation Hard Hat” initiative on the Adirondack Northway (Interstate 87) near the Clinton-Essex County line. The New York State Police Troop B and state Department of Transportation announced the news Thursday. Operation Hard Hat is a joint initiative of the two agencies to crack down on work zone violations and highlight the importance of safe driving through active construction and maintenance zones. They say this initiative, like past ones, was successful, and they plan to do more later this summer.

Officials from the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) knocked down giant white letters spelling “TRUMP” on the hillside of someone’s private property on Tuesday, citing it as a “life and safety issue.” “This was a life and safety issue because there were concerns about distracted driving,” Chief Public Information Officer for Caltrans Lauren Wonder said.

Today, Tennessee becomes the 19th state to make de facto criminals out of a significant percentage of its citizens by passing a law that makes it illegal for anyone to touch a cell phone while driving. The law, passed by assumedly well-meaning legislators as an attempt to cut down on deaths from “distracted driving,” nevertheless represents yet another governmental attempt to crush a fly with a sledgehammer, and it’s a trend that isn’t about to end anytime soon.Sadly, this merely represents the next step for do-gooder social engineers who think laws on the books can somehow fix all of society’s...

Justice is served: deep-fried and in a paper sleeve. A Connecticut judge’s decision has resolved a legal quandary that stupefied some and left others flat-out hungry: Could a police officer mistake a McDonald’s hash brown for a cellphone? In Jason Stiber’s case, the answer is “yes.” He was found not guilty Friday after successfully contesting the $300 distracted driving citation he received last year. “It was the case of the century,” Stiber’s attorney, John Thygerson, said with a laugh. “He was quite pleased. Obviously, he was quite pleased.” Stiber’s victory comes nearly 13 months after he was pulled over by...

Most states ban texting behind the wheel, but a legislative proposal could make Nevada one of the first states to allow police to use a contentious technology to find out if a person was using a cellphone during a car crash. The measure is igniting privacy concerns and has led lawmakers to question the practicality of the technology, even while acknowledging the threat of distracted driving. The future of the Nevada proposal isn't clear. A similar measure introduced in 2017 failed in the New York Legislature, but lawmakers are considering it again.Law enforcement officials argue that distracted driving is underreported...

Many get swept into binge-watching a tv show, but a Minnesota woman took the term to a new level in Minnesota. Minnesota State Patrol posted on Facebook about the incident which took place on October 26 on Interstate 94 near the Minnesota-North Dakota border, stating that a woman was involved in a one-vehicle crash because she was watching Netflix on her tablet in the passenger's seat. Minnesota State Patrol Driving and Netflix don’t mix. A motorist found that out the hard way Oct. 26 when she crashed her car on Interstate 94 between Moorhead and Fergus Falls. Numerous callers reported...

A new study from the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety found that infotainment centers included in the dashboards of our cars are causing more distracted driving. The AAA study found that the technology built into the car including voice or touch screen navigation can distract drivers from the road for more than 40 seconds. Out of the 30 new 2017 models that were tested, 2/3 of them had built-in technology systems that were rated as "highly" distracting. Here in Connecticut, AAA found men admitted to being distracted far more often than women, and men tend to use technology more often...

This liberal (likes "The American Prospect", member of "Americans Against Trump Rallies") shares a 'funny' story about driving while talking on her cell phone - and then lying to a police officer to avoid a ticket. (Details at link.)

When you're driving, there's a good chance you've seen someone on the phone, and maybe you've even been that person. Fifty-seven percent of American drivers admit to being on their phone while driving. Indiana Toll Road construction for the 80/90 Push project is just about halfway done. They expect to be finished July fourth, but in order to do that, they need workers to stay safe. So they're trying to cut down on those numbers. It really is difficult to put a dent in those numbers because we're all on-the-go. On top of that, you probably haven't met anyone who...

Just because you can talk to your car doesn’t mean you should. Two new studies have found that voice-activated smartphones and dashboard infotainment systems may be making the distracted-driving problem worse instead of better. The systems let drivers do things like tune the radio, send a text message, or make a phone call while keeping their eyes on the road and their hands on the wheel, but many of these systems are so error-prone or complex that they require more concentration from drivers rather than less, according to studies released Tuesday by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety and the...

The device is worn like glasses and allows the user to record video hands-free By A San Diego traffic court commissioner dismissed the first traffic ticket issued to a person for using "Google Glass" while driving but the ruling should not be considered an invitation to users to wear the device behind the wheel. Cecilia Abadie, of Temecula, Calif., was ticketed for speeding while driving Interstate 15 near Aero Drive on Oct. 29. The California Highway Patrol officer who issued the ticket testified Wednesday that Abadie passed him doing 85 mph in her silver Toyota Prius. “When I contacted her...

Steven Spriggs was stopped in a traffic jam near downtown Fresno and thought nothing of whipping out his iPhone 4 and clicking on the map feature to see if there was an alternate route around the construction mess. He was startled when he looked up and saw a California Highway Patrol motorcycle officer ordering him to pull over. He showed the officer that he was looking at a map and not texting or talking. “Pull over,” Spriggs recalled the officer as saying. “It’s in your hand.” A little more than a year later, Spriggs is at the heart of a...

NEW CANAAN, Conn. (CBSNewYork) — A high school junior is facing homicide charges after being accused of running down a [] jogger in Fairfield County. Police said the accident was as simple as it was deadly. The cell phone was out in the driver’s hand and the car veered for just a moment over the white line at the edge of the road before a sickening impact that left 44-year-old Kenneth Dorsey dead. Now, the 16-year-old driver who hit him has been charged with negligent homicide. The juvenile was called in by Norwalk Police for an emotional reckoning. ..." [snip]...

BARRIE, Ont. - Police blame some serious distracted driving for a chain-reaction crash that caused more than $100,000 in damage after a teenager struck a parked car in this city north of Toronto. Police said the driver was texting and trying to pick up her cat when the collision happened. Cops said the teenager was speeding when she lost control of the car, left the roadway and struck a car parked in a driveway. It was pushed into a boat, which was also in the driveway. The boat was then pushed into the house and a neighbour's vehicle. The driver...

Imagine the scene: three young women are traveling in a car. It is a sunny morning, traffic is light, and all are wearing their seat belts and are not intoxicated. They are talking about a friend — "You like him, don't you?" It is happy, benign teenager chatter. Then the driver decides to include that other friend in the conversation. While steering, she sends him a short text message on her cell phone. Suddenly, the car swerves into oncoming traffic and metal hits metal at high speed. Bodies are thrown. Glass breaks. Blood splatters. When the car finally comes to...

FORT COLLINS, Colo. (AP) — Rep. Betsy Markey is talking to voters in Fort Collins this weekend. But not about her health care vote — about distracted driving.

State Sen. Carole Migden bounced her state-issued SUV off the concrete median on Interstate 80 and nearly ran other motorists off the freeway before slamming into the back of another vehicle last week, the California Highway Patrol and witnesses said Tuesday. More than half a dozen motorists made emergency calls about Migden's erratic driving before the Friday accident, the CHP said. The rear-end collision in Fairfield, midway between San Francisco and Sacramento, injured a woman and her 3-year-old daughter, who were sent to the emergency room. In a statement released by her office last week, the San Francisco Democrat said...

Police would be required to note the specific source of distracted driving on accident reports under a bill being considered by the New Jersey State Assembly. The legislation is designed to give lawmakers a clearer picture of what causes crashes before they would consider further restrictions. Talking on a hand-held cell phone while driving is already illegal in New Jersey. However, a prime sponsor of the bill admits tracking in-car distractions may be inexact. "I'm not sure someone's going to get out of a car after a crash and say, 'Yeah, it was me on the cell phone,'" said State...

THURSDAY, June 29 (HealthDay News) -- Maneuvering through traffic while talking on the phone increases the likelihood of an accident five-fold and is actually more dangerous than driving drunk, U.S. researchers report. That finding held true whether the driver was holding a cell phone or using a hands-free device, the researchers noted. "As a society, we have agreed on not tolerating the risk associated with drunk driving," said researcher Frank Drews, an assistant professor of psychology at the University of Utah. "This study shows us that somebody who is conversing on a cell phone is exposing him or herself and...