Drive Means Drive Idaho: April is Distracted Driving Awareness Month

You might not know it based on other drivers' actions, but it's illegal to hold your phone while driving in Idaho. In June of 2020 we learned of the plans for the hands-free law and in July of last year it went into effect across all of Idaho. Yet, I drive around town and see people still holding their phone to their ear on a call or looking down, and away from the road, at their devices while driving. This month the Idaho State Police and Idaho Department of Transportation hope to raise more awareness about the law and help improve the safety of the roads across the state.

The ITD has a video posted to their Facebook page featuring our local legend, Sasquatch. It's a cute way to remind drivers about a not cute issue and to pay attention to the road.

Police have been participating in a nationwide initiative to educate drivers who are actively breaking the hands-free law. The program is called Connect 2 Disconnect and it began on April 8th and ends today. Even though the initiative event is ending, the need to obey the law remains. From 2015 to 2019 there were 237 deaths and more than 25,000 accidents related to distracted driving in Idaho.

If caught breaking the hands-free ordinance in Idaho, drivers could be issued a $75 fine for the first offense and up to $300 for future offenses.