U.S. Launches Distracted Driving Crackdown

The U.S. Transportation Department kicked off the first-ever national distracted driving awareness month, and will fund nationwide advertising and law enforcement on texting and other dangerous behavior behind the wheel, reports the Detroit News .

Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx launched the new ad campaign “U Drive. U Text. U Pay” at the department’s headquarters on Thursday. The ad campaign will run from April 7-15, which coincides with a nationwide law enforcement crackdown in states with distracted driving bans.

The $8.5 million national advertising campaign supports the first-ever national distracted driving high-visibility enforcement crackdown, which will run from April 10 to April 15, 2014. Thousands of law enforcement personnel nationwide will use traditional and new strategies to crack down on motorists who text and drive.

A challenge for law enforcement is determining if drivers are texting — requiring the use of unmarked cars and spotters to find drivers who are not paying attention.