WSP starts distracted driving patrols in midst of ‘100 deadliest days’

While you should always give the road your full attention whenever your behind the wheel, that’s going to be especially true this weekend, as we enter what’s commonly known as the “100 deadliest days” of driving for teens.

What Washington cities have the most distracted drivers?

The 100 deadliest days period marks a stretch of the summer when fatal collisions involving teenagers increase by roughly 14 percent.

“Distracted and reckless driving is the number one killer of teens in America — teens in fact are more likely to die from these collisions than suicide and drugs combined,” Trooper Johnna Batiste said on Twitter.

Starting Friday, Washington State Patrol will be conducting a distracted driving emphasis through Sunday. The hope is to make sure people remain aware of the significant risks posed when you take your eyes off the road.

“We do these rotating emphases where we push out that we’re doing this, just to bring this it back to the forefront of the public’s mind,” Trooper Rick Johnson told KIRO Radio.

A refresher on Washington’s distracted driving law

Trooper Johnson notes that most of the time, people who are pulled over are caught holding their phones, typing in a text message, an address on a map, or searching for their favorite song.

But there are other ways to be distracted on the road.

“Whether it be changing the radio, or talking to someone in your vehicle, or distractions with something outside the vehicle,” Johnson described.

So far this year, Johnson says they have pulled over more than 3,000 drivers who troopers believe were not paying full attention to the road.