Minnesota issued nearly 5,500 citations throughout April for hands-free cellphone violations.
The Minnesota Department of Public Safety’s Office of Traffic Safety (OTS) coordinated a statewide distracted driving enforcement campaign from April 1 through April 30, supported by funding from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
“The results of this campaign show that we still have a lot of work to do to keep people from using their cell phones while driving,” said Mike Hanson, OTS director, in a press release.
Minnesota’s hand-free cellphone law prohibits driver from holding a phone while operating a vehicle. Motorists can still make calls, send texts, listen to music or podcasts and use navigation through voice commands or single-touch activation, according to OTS’ website.
However, accessing social media, streaming videos, or browsing the internet while driving remains illegal.
Notable incidents during the campaign included a driver using both a laptop and cellphone in traffic, a motorist receiving a sixth hands-free violation, a driver using two cell phones simultaneously and another driver so distracted by their phone they failed to realize they were being pulled over until reaching a neighboring county, according to a press release. One driver also took a photo of a police vehicle while also stopped in traffic.
The state’s 296 participating law enforcement agencies issued a combined 5,426 hands-free cellphone citations.
The St. Paul Police Department issued the highest number of violations among metr-area agencies with 912 citations, followed by Minnesota State Patrol West Metro with 311, Minnesota State Patrol East Metro with 205 and the St. Anthony Police Department with 98.
Mankato Police Department issued 383 violations, topping the list for highest number of citations issued by greater Minnesota law enforcement agencies. Minnesota State Patrol Virginia issued 285 citations, followed by Minnesota State Patrol St. Cloud with 141, Olmsted County Sheriff’s Office with 132 violations, and Minnesota State Patrol in Duluth with 111.
In addition to the monthlong distracted driving effort, OTS hosted a one-day impaired driving enforcement campaign on April 20, a day commonly associated with increased cannabis use. Officers targeted all forms of impaired driving during the initiative, according to the press release.
Across the state, 48 drivers were arrested for impaired driving during the one-day enforcement effort.
Sources: OTS press release, OTS Distracted Driving Law
