MINNESOTA — Law enforcement agencies in North Dakota and Minnesota are stepping up enforcement efforts during Distracted Driving Awareness Month, amid growing concern that texting and driving continues to rise — even as crashes, injuries and deaths increase.
“We’ve all known for a while that texting and driving is just not something you want to do,” said Sgt. Jesse Grabow of the Minnesota State Patrol. “It’s very frustrating because it’s so simple to be preventative, I mean, to make good choices each and every time you get behind the wheel.”
Grabow called texting behind the wheel “a very selfish act that can result in dire consequences.”
Those consequences were deadly in a Cass County crash on Sept. 25, 2021, when a Moorhead man, distracted by Snapchat while speeding north on Highway 18 near Hunter, rear-ended an SUV waiting to turn left. The collision pushed that SUV into the southbound lane, where it was hit head-on by another SUV. Two people in the second SUV were killed; three people in the first SUV were injured.
“Anytime you're taking your eyes off the road for that amount of time, you're traveling quite the distance in that time, and you may not know what's ahead of you,” said Clay County Sheriff Mark Empting.
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, sending or reading a text while driving 55 mph is the equivalent of driving the length of a football field with your eyes closed.
Empting said the problem has only gotten worse. “I would say, over the years, it's getting worse, because the accessibility to the cell phone is there all the time ... people almost can't live without their cell phone anymore. If it's gone for five minutes, you don't know what to do.”
Technology exists to help drivers use phones safely. “If your vehicle is equipped with Bluetooth, you're able to operate and have the Bluetooth and use that, or you have to purchase some type of other type of Bluetooth type equipment,” Empting added.
Fargo Police Sgt. Dan Hulbert, with the department’s traffic safety team, echoed the warning. “Even glancing down for just a minute to change a radio station or to glance at a phone notification just to see what it is, can be precious moments that take your attention away from the road and away from your primary focus, which it should be driving.”
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Hulbert’s team, re-introduced last fall, is cracking down not only on distracted driving but also speeding and racing.
Despite the known dangers, distracted driving crashes continue to rise. The Minnesota Office of Traffic Safety reported 22 distracted driving deaths in 2022, 26 in 2023 and 29 in 2024. In North Dakota, Vision Zero said more than 850 distracted driving-related crashes occurred in 2023, including two fatal and 35 serious injury crashes.
The NHTSA says more than 3,300 people were killed nationwide due to distracted driving in 2022. Officials note the issue is often underreported because drivers may not admit it or no witness is available to verify distraction occurred.
Grabow urged drivers to take lessons from tragic cases. “Learn from other people’s mistakes,” he said.
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