Tuesday, January 6, 2015

Distracted Driving and Seat Belt Emphasis Patrols

Keep your eyes on the road and your seatbelt on. This month local law enforcement agencies will be teaming up for distracted driving and seat belt emphasis patrols in Spokane County.  

A 2013 study done by the University of Washington showed that 14.5% of Spokane County drivers in the study were distracted (texting or talking on a cell phone).  Sixty-seven percent were texting, with only 6% using a hands-free device.

Using a handheld phone is the equivalent of driving with a blood alcohol level of 0.08.  Texting is even more dangerous, with a crash risk higher than driving with a blood alcohol level of 0.19.  

The Airway Heights Police Department, EWU Police Department, Cheney Police Department, Spokane County Sheriff’s Office, Spokane Police Department, and the Spokane Valley Police Departments will be participating in extra patrols to cut down on this distracted driving.

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About SRTC

SRTC is the federally designated Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) for Spokane County. Urbanized areas with populations exceeding 50,000 people are required to have an MPO. SRTC was formed to address the county's transportation planning needs. It provides coordination in planning between the public, cities, small towns, the county, the state, transit providers, and tribes.

SRTC offers services including transportation monitoring, transportation modeling, census information analysis, travel demand forecasting, historical traffic count analysis, geographic information systems, and trip generation rates.