April is Distracted Driving Awareness Month, and the California Highway Patrol (CHP) wants to continue sharing a big message to every driver.
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"Ever since the invention of cellphones, it's been an ongoing problem and something we've addressed and increased our efforts in year after year to find those distracted drivers," says CHP officer Sean Duncan.
Distracted drivers can be spotted almost everywhere on the road, especially by officers off duty, says Duncan.
"When we are driving to and from work we see it all the time," he says.
He says keeping your eyes on the road while driving is vital since distractions like using your cellphone can not only lead to a bad injury, but your own death - or the death of someone else.
In 2021, the CHP wrote over 55,000 citations for distracted driving and over 13,000 collisions were from distracting driving.
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"6,300 of those involved injuries and sadly 56 resulted in fatal injuries, so we know this every year, April is Distracted Awareness Month, but we focus on that every day of the year," he says.
He says driving under the influence can also be a reason you get distracted and has a big piece of advice.
"There are apps you put on your phone to silence your phone. Parents can also add apps for your kids and you have a responsibility as a parents to not text your child when are they are driving."
CHP also has enhanced enforcing days where they specifically target distracted drivers - all in hopes of bringing that awareness.