LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – The Arkansas State Police are working to tackle a growing problem across the nation – distracted driving.
Next week, the ASP, along with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and other law enforcement agencies in the U.S., will be taking part in an enforcement operation to shed more light on the issue.
The effort is called the “U Drive. U Text. U Pay” and will include “stepped-up” efforts of stopping those who are showing obvious signs of driving while distracted.
“Typing a text message or reading one while driving and all the other distractions occurring inside a moving vehicle have become lifestyle practices leading to life threatening consequences,” Colonel Bill Bryant, Director of the Arkansas State Police and the Governor’s Highway Safety Representative, said. “A driver taking their eyes off the road for five seconds while traveling at 55 miles per hour covers the length of a football field. The time and distance factors create a deadly formula, leaving a driver with little if any time to safely avoid a collision.”
The operation begins on April 5 and will continue through April 12. For more information on the program, head to DPS.Arkansas.gov.
