$5K Grant for Cops to Crack Down on Distracted Drivers

For the first three weeks of April, Washington Township police will be out in full force putting the brakes on distracted drivers.

Thanks to a $5,000 grant from the New Jersey Division of Highway Traffic Safety, the police department can bolster its squad from April 1 to 21 to crack down on motorists who engage in “dangerous distracted driving behaviors such as talking on hand-held cell phones and sending text messages while driving,” according to Lt. Doug Compton.

The slogan of the campaign is “UDrive. UText. UPay.”

Despite using a hand-held device while driving being illegal in New Jersey, a 2013 survey by the Fairleigh Dickinson University PublicMind Poll showed 72-percent of those surveyed “very often” see people driving and talking on a cell phone. Forty-percent of those surveyed said they very often see other motorists texting.

April is National Distracted Driving Month. The UDrive. UText. UPay. campaign is modeled after the annual Click It or Ticket campaign.