Over the past two years, traffic fatalities have spiked. One of the causes is distracted driving. Enforcing laws involving handheld electronic devices is very difficult in a marked police vehicle. OSP has added 40 unmarked police vehicles to its fleet in efforts to detect distracted drivers as well as other aggressive driving behaviors. It could be anyone’s family who becomes a victim of distracted driving. Help us save lives and encourage others not to drive distracted.
ODOT crash data reveals that on average, over a five-year period from 2010 to 2014, someone received a conviction for using a cell phone while driving every half hour and a distracted driver crash occurred every 2.5 hours. In Oregon on average, more than 11 people die in distracted driving crashes every year and over 2,800 are injured.
Alexxyss Therwanger, age 19, was killed in a car crash on February 19th, 2016 while she was driving home in eastern Oregon. Alexxyss was using her cell phone and lost control of her car, colliding with an oncoming vehicle and severely injuring two other people. Alexxyss would have just turned 20 on May 28, 2016.