GREENFIELD — The Greenfield Police Department will partner with law enforcement agencies across the state to crack down on motorists who text while driving, it announced Tuesday.
Local police will join 202 Massachusetts law enforcement agencies and the state police in the national “U Drive. U Text. U Pay.” effort, which begins Friday and continues through April 29, according to a news release from the department.
“Driving and texting is illegal and irresponsible,” Chief Robert Haigh Jr. said in the release. “People who break our state’s texting law will be stopped and fined. Distracted driving is a major problem in Massachusetts, and we’re trying to keep the public safe by fining violators. If you drive and text, you will pay.”
Texting while driving was outlawed in Massachusetts in 2010 and adult drivers who write, send or read electronic messages or browse the Internet behind the wheel face a $100 fine for a first offence — even while stopped in traffic.
Juvenile operators are prohibited from using electronic devices entirely while driving, including to make phone calls. The fine for a juvenile first offense is $100 and includes a 60-day license suspension and required completion of a driver attitude course.
According to a 2013 study by the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute, activity that takes a driver’s eyes off the road for two seconds or more increases the risk of crashing by three times. This level of impairment is similar to driving with a blood alcohol concentration of 0.08 percent, drunken driving threshold in Massachusetts and other states. In 2014, more than 3,000 people were killed and an additional 431,000 injured across the United States in crashes involving distracted drivers, according to the Virginia study.
“Texting and driving requires motorists to take their eyes off the road, hands off the wheel, and mind off the task of driving. It creates the proverbial ‘perfect storm’ for a crash, and no one has the right to put another person’s life at risk like that,” Haigh said. “It’s not that complicated: if you text and drive, we will see you, pull you over, and fine you. We’re serious about enforcing texting laws.”
The campaign is funded by a federal grant administered through the Executive Office of Public Safety and Security’s Highway Safety Division from the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration.