Police Department

DUI Prevention

Everyone has heard of DUI, which refers to driving under the influence. But not everyone is aware of DWD, which refers to driving while distracted. More people are involved in injury and fatal traffic accidents every year due to distracted driving than alcohol-related accidents.

Driving is a skill that requires your full attention to safely control your vehicle and respond to events happening on the roads around you. Driving involves constant and complex coordination between your mind and body. Events or things that prevent you from operating your car safely are distractions. There are three types of distractions and they are anything that takes your:

•Eyes off the road (visual).

•Mind off the road (cognitive).

•Hands off the steering wheel (physical).

A survey revealed that 80% of all drivers admitted to distracted driving and amazingly enough 80% of all crashes have been attributed to distracted driving as well. This correlation is not just a coincidence. Distracted driving is the number one cause of traffic accidents and the younger the driver the higher the percentage.

A lot of attention and emphasis is given to driving under the influence of alcohol and none of us would ever put a family member or friend in a vehicle with a drunk driver. We need to start asking ourselves if we are taking unnecessary risks with other’s lives by driving distracted.

Please partner with your Police Department to do all we can to prevent avoidable accidents. TEAM and help maintain our elevated Quality of Life. Report all suspicious activity while it is occurring.

–Police Department

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