April is National Distracted Driving Awareness Month

In conjunction with Distracted Driving Awareness Month, which began on Friday, April 1, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has launched its eighth annual U Drive. U Text. U Pay enforcement and awareness campaign.

NHTSA’s U Drive. U Text. U Pay. campaign reminds drivers of the deadly dangers and the legal consequences – including fines – of texting behind the wheel. Forty-eight states, as well as Washington, DC, Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Virgin Islands, have passed laws making it illegal to text while driving. From April 7-11, there will be an increase in police enforcment texting laws and reminding drivers of the dangers.

From 2012 through 2020, over 29,000 Americans were killed in a crash involving a distracted driver, NHTSA says. In 2020, distracted drivers were involved in 13% of all injury crashes and 3,142 deaths nationwide.