Minnesota Opinion: Stop it, Minnesotans: More of us texting, driving – West Central Tribune

Most motorists are bugged by something while on the road: 92% have a driving pet peeve, according to a new survey. The biggest annoyance, at 54%: other drivers texting or on their cellphones when they should be concentrating on traffic, congestion, and potential hazards.

More than just bothersome, texting and driving, or otherwise allowing ourselves to be distracted by an electronic device while operating a motor vehicle, is an accidents-causing, tragedies-inducing, and too-often deadly habit.

And in Minnesota, it’s illegal. Has been since the summer of 2019. The state’s hands-free cellphone-use law means motorists are forbidden from holding a cellphone or other device in their hand while behind the wheel. Hang up and concentrate on driving instead, the law demands. Even in hands-free mode, accessing or posting on social media, checking texts, streaming videos, and Googling all are forbidden. None of that while driving.

Troublingly, though, and of growing concern, more Minnesota motorists are being nabbed phones-in-hand. In April, during a month-long distracted-driving enforcement campaign — an annual crackdown that, really, ought to be year-round — officers statewide issued 5,380 citations for hands-free cellphone violations. That’s nearly 2,000 more citations than were doled out during last year’s month-long campaign, the Minnesota Department of Public Safety reported.

“The number of citations issued is disturbing, unacceptable, and extremely frustrating,” the department’s Office of Traffic Safety Director Mike Hanson said in a statement to news media, including to the News Tribune Opinion page, in releasing the results of the April sting. “Getting distracted behind the wheel for even a couple seconds can end with someone being seriously hurt or killed. What if that someone was your loved one?

As sensitive and safety-minded as that advice is, distracted driving nevertheless accounts for one out of every four motor-vehicle deaths, according to the Minnesota Department of Public Safety. Nationally, every year, approximately 421,000 people are hurt in crashes involving distracted drivers — 330,000 of those the result of texting and driving, according to AAA. Every day, 11 teenagers die from texting and driving, and 21% of teen drivers in fatal accidents were on their cellphones.

West Central Tribune graphic

Even more disturbing, 94% of Minnesota teens acknowledge the dangers of texting and driving — and 35% admit to doing it anyway, according to Toward Zero Deaths, a program to reduce traffic accidents and fatalities in the state.

The Minnesota Department of Public Safety admitted in May that, “Taking your eyes off the phone is tough in our always-on society.” But, as it also stated, “You won’t regret it while driving. Staying safe and alive far outweighs a potentially deadly choice to text and scroll.”

April’s 5,000-plus statewide citations for hands-free cellphone violations included 38 issued by Duluth Police, 33 by Cloquet Police, 36 by Grand Rapids Police, and 134 by the Minnesota State Patrol in Duluth. A Pipestone County Sheriff’s deputy reported stopping three drivers in a row for hands-free violations, one of whom immediately posted on social media about being arrested. St. Paul Police reported stopping two drivers twice in one day for distracted driving and citing a third for a hands-free violation three days after a citation for the same offense in the same area. An Anoka County driver admitted to texting his mom while driving. And a driver in St. Paul during the April sting was caught using her phone to check her bank account while behind the wheel.

That’s a lot of reminders — even if inadequately gathered just one month of the year — of the too-often tragic results of not hanging up while operating what can become 4,000 pounds of rolling, metal misery and death.

LEARN MORE
For more details about Minnesota’s hands-free cellphone-use law, go to:

DRIVING PET PEEVES
LendingTree’s survey of more than 2,000 motorists in the US found that most, 92%, have at least one pet peeve while driving. The results of the survey were released this week, and the top pet peeves were:

1. Texting while driving, 54%
2. Going slow in the passing lane, 44%
3. Not allowing merging, 41%
4. Tailgating, 34%
5. Not using turn signal, 32%
6. Honking quickly at a green light, 27%
7. Headlights that are too bright, 24%
8. Not noticing a green light, 18%
9. Brake checking, 17%
10. Ignoring a crosswalk, 16%
11. Constantly changing lanes, 16%
12. Speeding up for a yellow light, 15%
13. Excessive engine noise, 15%
14. Not getting a courtesy wave, 12%
15. Driving on the shoulder, 9%
16. Parking or driving in a bus lane, 8%
17. Parking or driving in a bike lane, 8%