Pasadena Police Deploys Extra Traffic Officers Friday to Combat “Distracted Driving”

Pasadena residents and visitors will be seeing a lot more police presence on the streets of the City on Friday, April 28, as the Pasadena Police Department deploys extra traffic officers to enforce a new state law that prohibits “distracted driving” – driving a motor vehicle while holding and operating a handheld wireless telephone or a wireless electronic communication device.

The new law, Assembly Bill 1785, went into effect on January 1 and requires all drivers in California to keep their cell phone out of their hands while operating a motor vehicle.

Under the new law, a driver may activate or deactivate a feature or function of the cell phone or wireless communication device by swiping or tapping its screen only if the device is properly mounted or not being held in a driver’s hand.

The Pasadena Police Department said the extra traffic officers will be assigned to City locations where a high number of traffic collisions has been recorded, and will stop violators of AB 1785 and cite them with fines set at $162 for first-time offenders.

The deployment is part of a campaign funded by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety (OTS) through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).

Pasadena police says the campaign becomes more significant this April, which the National Safety Council observes as National Distracted Driving Awareness Month.

Throughout the month, the OTS will begin a new public awareness campaign throughout the state emphasizing how the new law makes virtually all hand-held cell phone activity – talking, texting, using apps – illegal. The campaign aims to raise awareness about the associated dangers and end distracted driving through education, change motorist behaviors and save lives, not just in the month of April but year-round.

“Law enforcement would rather see everyone off their cell phones than hand out a lot of tickets,” said Rhonda Craft, OTS Director. “Take care of calling, texting, setting your GPS and everything else before you hit the street.”

The NHTSA reports that 3,477 people were killed and an estimated 391,000 injured in motor vehicle collisions involving distracted drivers in 2015, a nine percent increase in fatalities as compared to the previous year.