Patrols focus on distracted driving

The Yamhill County Sheriff's Office will increase patrols Thursday, April 11, as part of National Distracted Driving Awareness Month. The sheriff's office was awarded a grant by the Oregon State Sheriff's Association to pay for the added patrols.

Distracted driving is a dangerous behavior for drivers, passengers and non-occupants of vehicles. Distraction is a specific type of inattention that occurs when drivers divert their attention from safely operating the vehicle to focus on another activity.

The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration released the following Oregon statistics for 2913-17:

n 12,006 distracted driving crashes resulting in 95 fatalities and 18,429 injuries (all age groups).

n 1,089 crashes involving a driver - all ages - reported to have been using a cell phone at the time of the crash. The crashes resulted in 20 fatalities and 1,557 injuries.

n 112 crashes involving a driver 16-18 years old reported to have been using a cell phone at the time of the crash. No fatalities were recorded, but 158 people were injured.

n There were 72,032 convictions for using a mobile electronic devise between 2013 and 2017, with a low of 7,208 in 2017 and a high of 21,520 in 2013.