Delaware River and Bay Authority Police Join Delaware’s Crackdown on Distracted Driving - “Phone in One Hand, Ticket in the Other” Enforcement Campaign Began November 7

(New Castle, DE)  The Delaware Office of Highway Safety has teamed up with the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to launch “Phone in One Hand, Ticket in the Other” dedicated enforcement campaign over the next two weeks.  Now through November 20, Delaware law enforcement will be out in force to make sure drivers keep their eyes on the road and their hands on the wheel.  The Delaware River and Bay Authority police department is one of 42 law enforcement agencies across the State to participate in the effort designed to eliminate handheld cell phone use and texting by motorists traveling on Delaware’s roadways.

“Reducing distracted driving improves safety for everyone who shares the road. Just as we keep our focus as a state on creating more jobs, we want drivers to keep their hands on the wheel and their focus on the road,” Delaware Governor Jack Markell said.

Distracted driving is any non-driving activity a person engages in behind the wheel that has the potential to distract him or her from the primary task of driving.  Law enforcement officers will show zero-tolerance for distracted driving. If they see you talking on your cell phone or texting while driving, they will give you a ticket.

“Nationally in 2010, more than 3,000 people were killed and an estimated 416,000 others injured in motor vehicle crashes involving a distracted driver,” said Authority police administrator Colonel Joseph Bryant Jr.  “Working with the Delaware Office of Highway Safety, we have the opportunity to influence driving behavior not only here in Delaware, but along the east coast from Maine to Florida.”  Bryant noted that the Delaware Memorial Bridge is a major transportation link on the I-95 corridor, handling more than 90,000 vehicles each and every day.

Because too many drivers still don’t get the message that using a cell phone while driving can be dangerous and deadly, this initial distracted driving crackdown marks the first of several enforcement waves taking place over the next year.

Sending or receiving a text message takes a driver’s eyes from the road for an average of 4.6 seconds — the equivalent of a driver driving blind for the length of an entire football field at 55-mph.  In a recent study, 40 percent of all American teens say they have been in a car when the driver used a cell phone in a way that put people in danger.

For more information on distracted driving, please visit www.distraction.gov/delaware.

About the Delaware River and Bay Authority

The Delaware River and Bay Authority, a bi-state governmental agency created by Compact in 1962, owns and operates the Delaware Memorial Bridge, the Cape May- Lewes Ferry, the Three Forts Ferry Crossing and the Salem Business Centre in Carney’s Point Twp., NJ. The Authority also manages corporate and aviation properties through its economic development powers - two airports in New Jersey (Millville Airport and Cape May Airport) and three in Delaware (New Castle Airport, Civil Air Terminal and Delaware Airpark). All agency operating revenues are generated through the bridge, ferry and airport facilities.