Dover Police Wrap Up Successful Distracted Driving Campaign 10-14-14

The Dover Police Department wrapped up it’s first ever distracted driving campaign, titled “Put it Down”, to raise awareness of Delaware’s cell phone ban through increased enforcement.  The campaign, announced on September 29th, began October 1st and ended on the 12th resulted in 316 violations being issued to drivers that were texting or talking on their phones while driving their vehicles.  From January 1st of 2014 through September 3th, the Dover Police Department issued 291 citations for cell phone use while driving.  The reason for the large increase in numbers was the use of mobile teams of officers, specifically from the motorcycle section.  While the “Put it Down” campaign has ended, the Dover Police Department reminds motorists that officers will still be enforcing the cell phone laws year-round in the capital city.  The department believes that a large majority of vehicle crashes are the result of drivers being distracted while behind the wheel.  Hopefully, increase awareness will make drivers pay attention the road ahead of them instead of the phone and help decrease the amount of crashes in the City of Dover.