‘U Drive. U Text. U Pay.': New Jersey Cracks Down on Distracted Driving

Keep your heads up and eyes on the road, New Jersey drivers. Police are cracking down on distracted driving.

The fifth annual campaign called “U Drive. U Text. U Pay.” that started Monday is part of a monthlong effort to combat distracted driving in four states, one of which is New Jersey.

Through April 21, state and local police in New Jersey, Maine, Connecticut and Oregon will be taking extra measures to identify and ticket distracted drivers.

The New Jersey Division of Highway Traffic Safety gave federal grants of up to $6,600 to 207 police departments to focus efforts on ticketing distracted drivers.

Drivers will be ticketed with $200-$400 fines on a first offense and $400-$600 on a second offense. On a third or subsequent offense, drivers will be ticketed with $600-$800 fines, get 3 motor vehicle points and possibly a 90-day license suspension.

While most distracted driving cases are because of texting and driving, distracted driving isn’t just using your phone behind the wheel, according to one South Jersey police chief.

“People think that if they don’t hold their phones up the cops aren’t going to see it or if the cops aren’t next to me they’re not going to see it, and that’s a mistake [drivers] are making,” Cherry Hill, New Jersey, police Chief William Monaghan said.

In 2016, 3,450 people died from distracted driving according to The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) – an 8% increase from 2014.

“Distracted driving accounts for a majority of accidents on our roads,” Monaghan said.

NHTSA has teamed up with police, road safety organizations and advocates to stop distracted driving, especially during this National Distracted Driving Awareness Month.

“It’s not worth injuring anyone else,” Monaghan said.

NHTSA has seen success in similar campaigns like Click It or Ticket and Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over.