New York Highways Try Texting Zone Awareness Campaign

New York plans to introduce an awareness campaign regarding texting, specifying places on state highways where it’s "acceptable to send a text message." It’s part of an ongoing campaign to crack down on distracted driving which has previously concentrated more on enforcement and punishment.

The program will involve both highways and the New York State Thruway. There will be a total of 91 Texting Zone locations.

Despite the name, the program won’t actually involve creating any new areas or changing any laws. Instead, it’s simply a case of formally re-labeling existing areas where drivers can pull off the road such as Park and Ride facilities, parking spots, and rest stops.

There will be 298 signs across the highways, giving a general warning to drivers thinking of texting that "It can wait" and then pointing out how many miles it is to the next "Texting Zone."

The theory is that if drivers are constantly reminded of how far (or near) the next opportunity to pull over is, they’ll be less tempted to feel they must send or reply to a text immediately.

The new program comes as the state announces a dramatic rise in the number of drivers caught breaching distracted driving laws. During a campaign running from Independence Day to Labor Day, unmarked police cars caught 16,027 drivers making phone calls and 5,553 texting. That compares with just 5,284 calling and 924 driving in the same period last year, though that may be as much increased enforcement as it is increased lawbreaking.

In publicizing the crackdown and the new signs, state officials also noted that from this year the penalty for distracted driving in New York increased from three endorsement points on your license to five points.

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