HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) -
By: Melanie Yamaguchi
Driving while
distracted -- including using cell phones, eating and putting on makeup -- could
not only cost your own life, but the life of someone else, Gov. Neil
Abercrombie said Tuesday at a news conference.
"It's one
thing to do stupid things yourself and to yourself, but it's another thing
entirely when as a result of not paying attention, you jeopardize the lives of
other people," he said.
Abercrombie
proclaimed April as "Distracted Driving Awareness Month" in Hawaii in
an effort to promote the dangers of driving while distracted. The Hawaii
Department of Transportation will launch a statewide media campaign which
includes a public service announcement that will air on television and in movie
theaters. The PSA portrays a woman on a gurney continuing to text on her cell
phone after apparently being involved in a car accident.
"Some
people still don't realize how dangerous distracted driving is," HDOT
director Glenn Okimoto said. "Others know about the risk but they think
the statistics don't apply to them. They forget or choose not to put their
mobile devices down when they should be focusing all their attention on
driving."
Nationwide,
more than 3,000 people died in crashes involving a distracted driver and about
416,000 were injured, according to HDOT. Drivers who use hand-held devices
including cell phones, MP3 players, personal digital assistants and GPS
navigation are four times more likely to get into crashes serious enough to
injure themselves or others.
Statewide, in
2012, county police departments issued about 20,900 driving citations,
according to HDOT. Although using cell phones while driving is among the top
distraction, counties have experienced varying types of distractions.
"I think
we have to educate the public about distracted driving," Hawaii County
Police Sgt. Christopher Gali said. "Not only cell phones, but we also see,
especially on the Big Island, people with their dogs on their laps."
Police Maj.
Kurt Kendro said since Honolulu enacted revised ordinances prohibiting the use
of electronic devices while driving in 2009, the Honolulu Police Department
still issued more than 40,000 citations for distracted driving.
"This
affects everybody," Kendro said. "It affects your insurance rate, it
affects families, it affects our community."
Kendro also
addressed the proposed state legislation that would prohibit all drivers under
18 years old from using their cell phones, even with hands-free devices. House
Bill 980 passed in the House of Representatives but awaits approval from the
Senate.
"That
will protect our drivers, our youth and our community even more," Kendro
said.
Wayne Parsons,
a Honolulu-based attorney, has actively been reaching out to high schools
--including Kapolei and Kaiser -- across the island to increase awareness on
distracted driving. However, it's not the students that are to blame, he said.
"I think
the worst offenders are the parents," Parsons said. "I think it is
true that youth, teenagers, use music devices and they use their cell phone a
lot. But I think they're also maybe more aware of the idea that they want to
protect their safety."
He said many
students are afraid for their own safety because their parents are often the
ones who are distracted. His goal is to encourage high school students to
engage in conversations with their parents about the dangers of distracted
driving.
"Their
generation is the handheld electronic device generation and they're going to
determine a lot about the future in terms of using these devices and driving
cars and come up with solutions to the problem from them," Parsons said.
