Local Law Officers Participating in Campaign Against Texting and Driving

BEATRICE — The Gage County Sheriff’s Office is partnering with the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration from October 8-12, 2020, for the national U Drive. U Text. U Pay campaign…a high-visibility enforcement effort. The goal is to combat distracted, texting drivers and enforce distracted-driving laws.

NHTSA reports between 2012 and 2018, nearly 23,000 people died in crashes involving a distracted driver. That is a 12-percent decrease in distracted driving fatalities from 2017, but law officers say there is more work to be done.

Millennials have become the worst texting-while-driving offenders, using their cell phones to talk, text, and scroll through social media while behind the wheel. The Highway Traffic Safety Administration says young drivers 16 to 24 years old have also been observed using handheld electronic devices while driving, at higher rates than older drivers have since 2007. In 2018, 8 percent of people killed in teen (15-19) driving crashes died when those teen drivers were distracted at the time of the crash.

Gage County Sheriff's Deputy Spencer Behrens says, “It is absurd how common it has become to see people driving down the road looking at their phones."  He says people selfishly do it anyway, putting others at risk.

Starting today, motorists will see increased law enforcement efforts, as officers will be stopping and ticketing anyone who is caught texting and driving.

Violating Nebraska’s distracted-driving laws can be costly. Nebraska law provides for fines of $200 for first offense...$300 for a second offense...and $500 for third and subsequent offenses.

In its 2018 Traffic Safety Culture Index, the AAA Foundation reported that while nearly 96 percent of drivers believed it was very or extremely dangerous to read a text or email while driving, 4 out of 10 drivers admitted to doing so within the previous 30 days.

Gage County Sheriff Millard Gustafson says if you are expecting a text message or need to send one, pull over and park your car in a safe location. Once you are safely off the road and parked, it is safe to text.

Designate your passenger as your “designated texter.” Other ways to be safe are to use the “Do Not Disturb” feature on your phone, or put the phone in the trunk, glove box, or back seat of your vehicle until you arrive at your destination.