RUSSELLVILLE, AR — U Drive U Text U Pay. That’s the message from law enforcement agencies as they crack down on drivers texting behind the wheel.
We rode along with an officer from the Russellville Police Department (RPD) on Thursday as they searched for any sign of distracted drivers.
“You can usually tell a distracted driver about as well as you can tell somebody who is intoxicated,” says Drew Latch, Russellville Police Officer.
So far this month, Russellville Police cited 7 drivers for texting while driving. It appears texting, isn’t the only problem officers are seeing.
“We’ve run across people who were actually checking their Facebook status, maybe even taking a picture for Instagram,” says Latch.
Officer Latch says oftentimes, they’ll get drivers who deny they’ve been on their cellphone.
“If they’re arguing it, we’ll ask if we can see your phone to see if we can see if you did or did not exchange a text,” he says.
Meanwhile, on the other side of town, we did a study of our own. We posted our camera on the side of the road for 10 minutes. During that time, we found three people texting while driving.
Other agencies like the Arkansas State Police are also cracking down in this week-long campaign. In the last three weeks, troopers have issued 152 tickets or warnings. In 2014 alone, they issued 317 citations and 333 warnings for texting behind the wheel.
“For this situation, I’m going to give him a warning,” explains Officer Latch.
A warning that the next time it happens, the consequences could be much worse.
“Right now we have an operation out making sure people aren’t using their mobile devices. That means texting or any type of data exchange,” says Latch.
Education, worth repeating in hopes of teaching early on, that no text from behind the wheel is worth it.
“There’s a lot of precious life out there,” says Latch.
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