Our Take / Stop it, Minnesotans: More of us are texting and driving – Duluth News Tribune

Most motorists are bothered by something while on the road: 92% have a pet peeve while driving, according to a new survey. The biggest annoyance, at 54%: Other drivers are texting or using their cell phones when they should be focusing on traffic, congestion and potential dangers.

More than just boring, texting and driving, or becoming distracted by an electronic device while operating a motor vehicle, is a habit that causes accidents, tragedy, and too often is fatal.

And in Minnesota, it’s illegal. That’s been the case since the summer of 2019. The state’s hands-free cell phone law prohibits motorists from holding a cell phone or other device in their hand while driving. Hang up and focus on driving instead, the law requires. Even in hands-free mode, accessing or posting to social media, checking texts, streaming videos, and searching Google are all prohibited. None of this while driving.

What is troubling, however, and causing growing concern, is that more and more Minnesota motorists are being pulled over with phones in hand. In April, during a monthlong crackdown on distracted driving — an annual crackdown that, in reality, is expected to last all year — officers statewide issued 5,380 citations for violations hands-free cell phones. That’s nearly 2,000 more citations than were distributed during last year’s month-long campaign, the Minnesota Department of Public Safety reported.

“The number of citations issued is concerning, unacceptable and extremely frustrating,” said the department’s Bureau of Traffic Safety Director, Mike Hanson, in a statement to media, including the News Tribune Opinion, in releasing the findings. from the April survey. “Being distracted while driving, even for a few seconds, can result in injury or death. What if this person was your loved one? Eliminate distractions and make the roads safer for everyone. »

As sensible and safety-conscious as this advice is, distracted driving nonetheless accounts for one in four automobile fatalities, according to the Minnesota Department of Public Safety. Nationally, each year, about 421,000 people are injured in crashes involving distracted drivers, 330,000 of them from texting and driving, according to AAA. Every day, 11 teens die because of texting or driving, and 21% of teen drivers involved in fatal crashes were using their cell phones.

Even more worrying, 94 percent of Minnesota teens recognize the dangers of texting and driving — and 35 percent admit to doing it anyway, according to Toward Zero Deaths, a program aimed at reducing traffic crashes and deaths in the state.

The Minnesota Department of Public Safety acknowledged in May that “it’s hard to take your eyes off the phone in our always-connected society.” But, as he also states: “You won’t regret it while driving. Staying safe and alive far outweighs the potentially deadly choice of texting and scrolling.

Of April’s more than 5,000 citations for hands-free cell phone violations, 38 were issued by Duluth police, 33 by Cloquet police, 36 by Grand Rapids police and 134 by the Patrol. Minnesota State at 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 that he had been arrested. St. Paul police reported arresting two drivers in one day for distracted driving and citing a third for a hands-off violation three days after a citation for the same offense in the same area. An Anoka County driver admitted to texting his mother while driving. And a St. Paul driver in the April attack was caught using her phone to check her bank account while she was behind the wheel.

That’s a lot of recalls – even if not sufficiently collected one month a year – too often tragic consequences of not hanging up while using what can become 4,000 pounds of rolling, metal misery and death .

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For more details on Minnesota’s hands-free cell phone law, see:

The pet peeves of driving
LendingTree’s survey of more than 2,000 U.S. motorists found that most, 92 percent, have at least one pet peeve while driving. The survey results were released this week, and the main pet peeves were:

1. Texting while driving, 54%
2. Go slowly in the passing lane, 44%
3. Do not allow the merger, 41%
4. Tailgating, 34%
5. Do not use turn signals, 32%
6. Honking quickly at a green light, 27%
7. Headlights too bright, 24%
8. Not noticing a green light, 18%
9. Brake check, 17%
10. Ignoring a pedestrian crossing, 16%
11. Constantly changing lanes, 16%
12. Acceleration at yellow light, 15%
13. Excessive engine noise, 15%
14. Not receiving a courtesy sign, 12%
15. Driving on the shoulder, 9%
16. Parking or driving in a bus lane, 8%
17. Parking or driving on a bike path, 8%

“Our View” editorials in the News Tribune represent the opinion of the newspaper as determined by its editorial board. Current board members are Publisher Neal Ronquist, Editorial Page Editor Chuck Frederick, and Employee Representative Kris Vereecken.