For the Reporter

On the heels of the first-ever statewide distracted driving extra enforcement campaign, law enforcement officers will be out once again searching for not only unbuckled drivers but distracted drivers as part of the annual “Click it or Ticket” patrols.

Motorists in King County can expect to see extra seat belt and distracted driving patrols between May 19 and June 1.

In King County, during the recent distracted driving campaign between April 10 and 15, 836 cell phone and texting violations were written.

The “Handheld Cell Phone Use” law became a primary law in Washington in June 2010. Prior to that law taking effect, on average, 700 drivers were cited for cell phone use per month statewide. After the law went into effect, the number of motorists cited for cell phone use increased and has stayed consistent at approximately 4,000 per month.

Likewise, after the primary seat belt law took effect in June 2002 seat belt violations initially increased and then the seat belt use rate increased. This model of high visibility enforcement has proven to change behaviors and is now being applied to distracted driving. Texting and cell phone usage is aggravating to so many motorists and it remains a growing public health and traffic safety issue.

Last year, during this same time period (May-June), officers on extra patrols statewide issued 2,963 seat belt violations amongst the 11,666 motorists who were stopped.

Also last year during this time period, 1,897 cell phone and texting violations were written. However, taking a historical look, in 2010, (when the primary law went into effect) only 63 drivers were cited statewide at this time.

In King County, the Auburn, Bellevue, Black Diamond, Burien, Covington, Federal Way, Issaquah, Kent, Kirkland, Lake Forest Park, Maple Valley, Mercer Island, Port of Seattle, Redmond, Renton, Sammamish, SeaTac, Seattle, Snoqualmie, Tukwila and Woodinville Police Departments as well as the Washington State Patrol will be teaming up and participating in these extra patrols, with the support of the King County Target Zero Task Force.

These and all extra patrols are part of Target Zero—striving to end traffic deaths and serious injuries in Washington by 2030.

For more information, visit www.targetzero.com. Additional information on the Washington Traffic Safety Commission can be found at www.wtsc.wa.gov.