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Date: 12/27/2023
WESTFIELD — Police are delivering their message about distracted driving to an audience that doesn’t even sit in the front of the car.
Officers and a consultant conducted the first of several planned educational programs at city schools on Dec. 21, sharing strategies for students to help their parents stay focused on the road.
“This is your chance to tell on your parents, but they won’t get in trouble,” said Emily Stein to a group of first graders at Southampton Road Elementary School.
There were giggles all around from the youngsters in sleepwear — it was pajama day at the school — while sitting in the school gymnasium.
Developed by the Safe Roads Alliance and EndDistractedDriving.org, the program is designed to create a new generation of drivers who will understand the problems with multitasking while driving and what distracted driving looks like.
Stein, who is the president of the not-for-profit Safe Roads Alliance, was talking with the students about distracted driving while offering advice on how to respectfully let parents, guardians or others know when they should focus on the road.
She asked the children if they understood what a distraction is.
One little girl raised her hand and said it was like “if you see a spider web and say ‘look out.’”
Another said it was like riding a bike and when you get distracted you almost fall off.
Stein then asked the children if they had seen their parents driving while eating, talking on their cell phones or texting. Nearly all the children raised their hands.
“My dad talks on his phone while he’s driving,” one student said to answer Stein’s question.
Another said their dad “drinks coffee and texts” while driving.
Police Sgt. Juanita Mejias, who leads the Police Department’s Traffic Bureau, also jumped into the Q and A.
“I’ve seen people with a newspaper on the steering wheel and reading while they’re driving,” she said.
But another student said that while in the car, it’s her “job to read [her mom’s] texts and answer the calls.”
There were a few expressions of “wow” from the adults in the gym.
Stein then showed a video, “Sam’s Distracted Day,” for the children. It features a meerkat named Sam who helps teach them lessons about how to engage their parents or guardians when they see them not paying attention while driving, by using examples of distractions inside the home.
“Sam” stands for “See a problem. Address the problem with an ‘I’ statement. Make an action plan together.”
Mejias said it’s important to let kids understand the dangers of distracted driving.
There will also be an educational program for high school students. Mejias said those students will ride with a professional driver, like a police officer, who will have the students experience hard-braking situations and driving on rain-slick roads and offer tips to avoid dangerous situations.
As the officer who reviews every crash that occurs in the city, Mejias sees the factors that contribute to each one — and she knows the two primary reasons: “Speed and distracted driving. If people would just slow down and pay attention we wouldn’t have as many” crashes, Mejias said.
She asked drivers who find themselves in a hurry while behind the wheel to ask themselves a simple question.
“Would you like to arrive maybe a few minutes late for something, or spend an hour or more dealing with a crash? Mejias said.
And crashes cost more than time, they cost money, she said. Insurance rates rise and if cited for causing a crash, there are fines and court costs.
While there is no department-wide initiative to cite drivers for using handheld devices behind the wheel, Mejias said several of the department’s patrol officers have taken it upon themselves to stop motorists who are not following the law.
She said those officers, like many other motorists, see and sometime personally experience the dangers of using a handheld device while driving.
So far, the officers are only handing out written warnings with a brochure about the dangers of distracted driving, but each stop could result in a ticket, she said.
The school programs are funded by $59,748 grant the Westfield Police Department was awarded in September. The grant was administered by the state’s Municipal Road Safety Grant Program and funded by National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
In addition to the educational programs, it will also pay for increased patrols by the Traffic Bureau, Mejias said.
The grant will additionally pay for five driving safety campaigns through September of next year, she said. The Traffic Bureau will kick off the initiative with a focus on winter impaired driving. While officers are always on the lookout for impaired drivers, Mejias said, this campaign is focused on reminding drivers to clear their vehicles after it snows.
“We want drivers to remember it creates a hazard when they don’t clear their roofs, headlights and license plates after it snows,” she said.
That effort will continue until April, when the Traffic Bureau will roll out its distracted driving campaign.
To fulfill the requirements of the grant, Mejias said patrol officers will be on special detail for four out of their eight-hour shifts looking specifically for distracted drivers. And they’re not just looking.
Officers “must stop at least 12 vehicles during that four-hour shift,” she said.
In May, the bureau will begin looking for drivers who fail to buckle up during its “Click It or Ticket” enforcement campaign, Mejias said.
Officers will focus on speed limit enforcement during June and July. In August through September, they will be looking for impaired drivers, she said.