Los Gatos-Monte Sereno Police Join Crackdown On Texting and Driving

If you ever text while driving, take note—the are looking for you.

As part of California’s first Distracted Driving Awareness Month, the Los Gatos-Monte Sereno Police Department will join the California Highway Patrol and hundreds of other local departments statewide to crack down on texting and other distracting phone use, according to

The minimum cost of a ticket is $159, and subsequent tickets cost $279, police said.

Texting while driving is as dangerous as driving drunk, police said, and drivers using hand-held devices are four times more likely to be involved in an injury accident. 

Seaman said he continues to be amazed by the level of cellphone use in Los Gatos ever since the law was changed three years ago.

"Enough time has gone by that there can be no excuse for a person to use a cellphone while driving now," he said. "I have directed our officers to focus on texting and talking while driving, as we see renewed use of cell phones by members of our community.

"This is such a pedestrian and bike-intensive community that distracted driving puts us all at risk. In addition, when school drop-off and pickups occur, our streets are highly congested, and some are narrow with several pedestrian crosswalks, which distracted drivers are less likely to see. Anyone using a cellphone while driving should expect to be stopped and cited." 

Christopher J. Murphy, state office of traffic safety director, said, “Convincing California drivers to wear seat belts 20 years ago wasn’t easy, either, but in 2010, more than 96 percent buckled up, and thousands of lives were saved.” 

While California Senate Bill 1613 has required drivers to use a hands-free headset since 2008, police said that conversations using the devices can still result in dangerous “inattention blindness.”

Safety Tips from the California Office of Traffic Safety

• Turn off your phone or put it out of reach before starting the car.

• Alert callers that you are unable to take calls when driving by changing your voicemail message.

• Make it a point not to call or text anyone who may be driving, such as during the commute to and from work or school, especially parents calling teen drivers.

• If you do need to make an important call or respond to a text message, pull over to a safe place to do so.

• If going cold turkey is too much of a stretch and you just can’t turn off your phone, consider using one of the available mobile phone apps that holds calls and incoming texts.