in Washington State
I'm sure we've all seen it. You know, the car swerving within it's own lane, from line to line. 
As you speed by so not to be behind the car when it crashes you look over, and it's someone texting on their cell phone. You know what? I've been guilty of it as well. I work the Tacoma Real Estate market, and I travel extensively especially the I-5 corridor from Tacoma, WA to Seattle, WA. I see this all the time.
Quick facts about cell phone use while driving
- 6,000 people — equal to every citizen of the Pierce County city of Steilacoom, WA — were killed in crashes involving a distracted driver in 2008; 500,000 were injured.
- A driver talking on a cell phone is as impaired as a driver with a .08 blood-alcohol level.
- A driver who is texting while driving is as impaired as a driver with a .16 blood-alcohol level. That’s double the legal limit.
- Drivers and their cell phone use are half a second slower to hit the brakes in emergencies and miss more than half the visual cues seen by attentive drivers.
- Cell phone Use and Texting while driving is dangerous
Washington State is the first to make texting while driving illegal.
Since 2008 Washington State it has been a secondary violation for a driver to be on their phone without a hands free device or texting while driving. The driver had to be cited for another infraction to be fined for the cell phone use.
Since the laws went into effect in 2008, WSP has written approximately 3,000 tickets and given about 5,900 warnings. The patrol believes the number of collisions caused by inappropriate use of mobile devices is greatly under-reported.
Effective June 10th failure cell phone use without a hands free device, or texting while driving will become a primary offense. You will be able to be pulled over and ticketed. The Washington State Police announced there will not be ANY grace period for these offenses. The fine is $124.
So get off your phone, pay attention and drive!!! and I'll do the same!!!
A friendly service announcement brought to you by a Tacoma Real Estate Agent who
would love to help you in any of your Tacoma Real Estate needs.
Comments(6)