FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Monday, October 4, 2010

Commissioner David J. Swarts of the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles and Chair of the Governor's Traffic Safety Committee (GTSC), along with members of the New York State Police, Syracuse Police Department and the Onondaga Sheriff's Department today announced that the third wave of the Distracted Driving Enforcement Project (DDEP) will be conducted in Syracuse, New York from October 4-17.

The DDEP was launched in Syracuse on April 8 by Governor David A. Paterson, United States Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood, Commissioner Swarts and members of the New York State Police, Syracuse Police Department and the Onondaga Sheriff's Department. Syracuse, and Hartford, Connecticut, were the only two cities in the country chosen by the U. S. Department of Transportation as the recipients of a $300,000 federal grant to target distracted driving during four high visibility enforcement waves. The results of the project will be used to develop a national model for combating distracted driving. The fourth and final public awareness and enforcement wave is scheduled for April 2011.

"I commend Secretary LaHood's dedication to ending distracted driving by raising awareness of the issue and through his support of enforcement projects such as this one which is made possible by a grant from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration," said Commissioner Swarts. "Data shows us that there has been some improvement since the beginning of this project, but we have a long way to go."

Recently, Commissioner Swarts attended U.S. Secretary LaHood's second national Summit on Distracted Driving in Washington, D.C. Also in attendance was Syracuse Police Captain Shannon Trice, who was part of a five-member panel on steps taken in the past year to decrease distracted driving with legislation, regulation, technology and research.

"I am confident that many injuries and deaths have been prevented because of the last two enforcement waves," said Syracuse Police Chief Frank Fowler. "Distracted driving will not be tolerated and we will continue to send this message to motorists through our enforcement efforts."

According to a report released by the Secretary and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in conjunction with the conference, during the first two waves, hand-held phone use while driving dropped by 38 percent in Syracuse and texting while driving decreased 42 percent.

This represents the third Distracted Driving Enforcement Project wave to be conducted in the area. The first ten day wave held in April resulted in 2,300 tickets issued for cell phone use and texting while driving in the City of Syracuse. The second wave resulted in nearly 2,150 tickets issued in July. The campaign entitled "Phone in One Hand. Ticket in the Other", utilizes increased law enforcement efforts combined with effective public advertising to remind drivers to put down their cell phones and focus on driving. The campaign is similar to other national campaign models such as "Click it or Ticket" and "Over the Limit. Under Arrest"

"Because the results of the first two enforcement waves were so dramatic having a 38 percent decrease in illegal cell phone usage and a 42 percent decrease in illegal texting usage, we are further convinced that this program has and will continue to save lives in our community," said New York State Police Captain Jeff Raub. "In this next wave we have doubled our commitment to pursue success and protect the motoring public from the dangers of distracted driving."

"As a community we cannot afford to ignore the dangers of distracted driving," said Onondaga County Sheriff Kevin Walsh. "I am confident that this third wave of enforcement will continue to raise awareness and deliver an increased level of compliance."

Nearly 5,500 people died nationwide in 2009 in crashes involving a distracted or inattentive driver and more than 440,000 were injured. In New York State, at least one in five crashes has distracted driving listed as a contributing factor. Using a cell phone while driving, delays a driver's reactions as much as having a blood alcohol concentration of 0.08 percent, equivalent to driving drunk.

For more information on distracted driving, please visit www.safeny.com or www.distraction.gov.