Town Cops Issue Record Number of Tickets During Distracted Driving Crackdown

have issued a record number of tickets to cellphone users since the distracted driving campaign started April 4 in collaboration with the California Highway Patrol.

Los Gatos-Monte Sereno police Sgt. Steve Walpole, the traffic bureau supervisor, said more than 60 citations have been written as a result of the effort. "We've never issued so many in such a short amount of time," Walpole said. 

The department, along with 250 other police agencies in the state, is participating in the "Not Worth the Risk" campaign through April, and will periodically do local enforcement after that, according to Sgt. Kerry Harris.

Local residents are reminded to avoid what town patrollers say is a growing epidemic—the use of handheld cellphones and texting while driving. A large electronic traffic safety sign on Highway 17 near Highway 85 warns against texting and driving.

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

According to Harris, distracted driving is a serious problem in Los Gatos and Monte Sereno and an extremely hazardous situation for innocent motorists.

Asked how many accidents in town have been caused by distracted driving, Harris said it's difficult to determine the exact amount.

"Unless a witness sees the at-fault driver on the phone, or the offender self-discloses that he was committing that violation, it usually doesn’t get reported," he noted.

As an example, Harris said, officers were dispatched at 7:52 a.m. Monday to Highway 9 at Alberto Way for a traffic accident. 

At the scene, they found the driver who was at fault, a 28 year-old Boulder Creek resident, had been traveling on Highway 9 while holding an injured baby squirrel in his hand.

Distracted over the plight of the squirrel, he apparently didn't see the red light in front of him—or the motorist who was turning left onto Alberto Way. He collided with the other vehicle, spinning it around, and spun his truck into the signal-light control box, Harris said.

Aside from the injuries, totalled truck and destroyed control box that took most of the day to replace, four officers were tied up with the collision and traffic control for more than an hour.

"This is an example of the dangers of distracted driving," Harris said. "Whether it is texting, talking on the phone, or ministering to an injured squirrel, motorists need to keep their focus on the road." 

Asked how patrollers spot motorists in violation during enforcement, Harris said the officers will usually pick a location where offenders can be seen, and then they radio the information to other officers down the street who issue the citation.

Occasionally, officers standing at a stop sign and then just wave the offender to the curb to issue a citation. Many of the citations are written as the result of observing offenders while on routine patrol, Harris said.

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.”

• 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.