They’re squarely targeting teens with a direct and brutal message – don’t even look at your phone while you’re driving.
What started as a successful campaign in two states is going nationwide, and it’s coming to a road near you.
California and Delaware programs called “Phone in One Hand, Ticket in the Other” are being reinvented on a national scale. The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration launched the first national campaign against distracted driving, which includes television, radio and digital ads with the theme “U Drive. U Text. U Pay.”
The $8.5 million campaign runs from April 7 to 15 as part of a nationwide law enforcement crackdown in states with distracted driving bans.
Iowa and Illinois are among those states.
The NHTSA says 43 states ban texting for drivers of all ages, 12 states prohibit drivers from using hand-held cell phones while driving and 37 states ban cell phone use by novice drivers.
Iowa law does not ban cell phones for drivers, but the state already has a law on the books that says no one can use a handheld device to write, send or read a message while driving a motor vehicle.
As of January 1, 2014, drivers are banned from using any hand-held device while driving in Illinois.
The ‘high-visibility enforcement” part of the campaign involves thousands of law enforcement people conducting extra enforcement to crack down on motorists who text and drive between April 10 and April 15.
WARNING: Video below is graphic and may be disturbing to some viewers.