{"id":2443004,"date":"2019-04-16T09:03:40","date_gmt":"2019-04-16T15:03:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/?p=304155"},"modified":"2019-04-16T09:03:40","modified_gmt":"2019-04-16T15:03:40","slug":"colorado-agencies-make-a-push-to-get-distracted-drivers-off-the-road","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/local-news\/colorado-agencies-make-a-push-to-get-distracted-drivers-off-the-road\/","title":{"rendered":"Colorado agencies make a push to get distracted drivers off the road"},"content":{"rendered":"
State and local officials are hoping to raise awareness regarding distracted driving in Colorado.<\/strong>
Eli Pace\/Summit Daily<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Officials around the state are looking to lead a push to rid Colorado\u2019s roadways of distracted drivers.<\/p>\n

Earlier this month the Colorado Department of Transportation launched its \u201cGet Turned On\u201d campaign as part of National Distracted Driving Awareness Month, urging drivers to utilize tools to reduce cellphone use while driving. Though for some, distracted driving can mean much more than fiddling around on the phone while behind the wheel, and the consequences can be serious.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s the most dangerous thing that we do on a regular basis,\u201d said Colin Remillard, a Colorado State Patrol spokesman. \u201cI think everybody is guilty. Driving is something people do every day, and it\u2019s taken for granted when people go on autopilot from their house to work twice a day. But these are thousand-pound missiles going down the highway. Every time you get in a vehicle you need to be tuned in and paying attention every time.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to CDOT, distracted drivers are involved in an average of 43 crashes every day across the state, about 13% of all crashes. In more than 15,600 crashes involving distracted drivers in the state last year, there were 6,269 injuries and 53 fatalities, according to preliminary data from CDOT.<\/p>\n

A survey of Colorado drivers published by CDOT last year revealed that distracted driving was much more common than most people realize, with almost 90% of respondents admitting to driving distracted in the previous week \u2014 40% revealing they\u2019d read a text message on their phones, and 25% saying they\u2019d sent one.<\/p>\n

\u201cDriving is a significant responsibility and demands our full concentration,\u201d said Shoshana Lew, CDOT director. \u201cWhen you fail to pay attention behind the wheel, you put yourself and other travelers at serious risk \u2014 our data show that 43 crashes per day in Colorado involve distracted driving.\u201d<\/p>\n

CDOT is urging drivers to utilize tools to reduce distracted driving, such as \u201cDo Not Disturb While Driving\u201d modes available on iPhones and some Android phones, along with other third-party apps that block notifications while on the move like Life Saver, SafeRide, True Motion Family and Driving Detective.<\/p>\n

While cellphones are considered the biggest culprit for distracted driving<\/a>, officials say that toying around with the radio, eating, entering information into a GPS, reading a map and others can be big distractors. And distracted driving can also mean taking to the road in the wrong state of mind.<\/p>\n

\u201cMore of our lives are on our cellphones, and with phones now being integrated into cars it\u2019s hard for people to focus on driving with all the info coming through and having it at hand,\u201d said Remillard. \u201cBut the biggest thing is state of mind. When people get pulled over for speeding and say, \u2018well I just wasn\u2019t paying attention\u2019 that\u2019s distracted driving. It should be an active endeavor, where you\u2019re anticipating what could happen.\u201d<\/p>\n

Aside from potential crashes, there are also criminal and financial burdens<\/a> associated with distracted driving. Adult drivers caught driving while distracted \u2014such as sending text messages \u2014 face a fine of $300 and four points on their driver\u2019s license for an initial offense. Violations that lead to bodily injury or death of another could mean a $1,000 fine and up to a year imprisonment.<\/p>\n

Though, as distracted driving is difficult to prove for law enforcement agents<\/a>, the prevention falls almost entirely on the shoulders of individual drivers.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a really hard thing to enforce and definitively put your finger on,\u201d said Remillard. \u201cIt\u2019s hard to see people definitively distracted. But we see a lot of results of it. In some crashes there\u2019s really no other reason for a crash, and you can extrapolate that they were probably distracted.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cPlease don\u2019t engage in it,\u201d added Summit County Sheriff Jaime FitzSimons. \u201cAnd don\u2019t be afraid to encourage others not to do it. Take a stand for safety.\u201d<\/p>\n

via:: The Aspen Times<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

State and local officials are hoping to raise awareness regarding distracted driving in Colorado.Eli Pace\/Summit Daily Officials around the state are looking to lead a push to rid Colorado\u2019s roadways of distracted drivers. Earlier this month the Colorado Department of Transportation launched its \u201cGet Turned On\u201d campaign as part of National Distracted Driving Awareness Month, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-2443004","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-local-news"},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-16 18:27:37","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSPN The Valley's Quality Rock","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2443004","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2443004"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2443004\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2443004"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2443004"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2443004"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}