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  • According to Utah law using a handheld device to text, place a phone call, use the internet, watch a video, or take a video or picture is against the law while driving.

    However, the state of Utah is not enforcing this law. Distracted driving deaths have been skyrocketing along the Wasatch Front.

    In the past 5 years over 108 people in Utah have been killed from driver’s distracted by their cellphones.

     

    Distracted Driving Defense Salt Lake City Attorney Utah

    KSL recently did an investigation where reporters road with semi-trucks for hundreds of miles and from their high vantage point they could see a lot of driver’s texting and driving.

    According to KSL:

    “You can see it from the driver’s seat,” Chris Shafer, safety director of Godfrey Trucking, said. “You can look right down and see them burning it up right there…. it goes on every day.”

    Shafer has been in trucking for 27 years and has seen the onset of cellphones. Since they are professional drivers, he said the truckers’ rules against cellphone use are strict.

    “We want to make sure that the drivers are not distracted by picking up the phone or texting or anything like that — it’s totally unsafe,” he said. “You’ve got an 80,000-pound rig going down the road. That rolling mass is a responsibility.”

    “They think they’re in control, but they’re really not. There’s nothing safe about it.” – Rick Webster, Maxway Trucking
    But from their high perches, he and those like him see its impact on the drivers that surround them every day.

    “I see a lot of drivers swerving in and out … and when I catch up to them, sure enough, they’re on their phone,” Skyler Droubay of Double D Distribution said, before estimating: “Twenty to 25 percent of people are driving distracted.”

    In 2014 Utah put in place a law to ban the use of hand-held devices while driving.

     

    Little has been done to enforce this law until recently this year where the Utah Highway Patrol unveiled a raised patrol van that can see down into driver’s car-seats to see if they are texting and driving. The UHP has yet to use the van full-time because of the lack of man power and resources.

    Under the current law driver’s can be fined up to $100 dollars for texting and driving. However, their is a recent case involving a texting while driving homicide where the driver was sentenced to 1 year in jail for killing a man.

    If you find yourself being charged with a serious distracted driving charge in Salt Lake City. Call us, we can help!

     

    We Prepare Diligently. We Concede Nothing. Call Us For A Powerful Defense.

    Call Greg S. Law 801-261-6228

    There’s too much at stake to settle for anything less than the best attorney you can afford. For an effective Salt Lake City Criminal Law Attorney, contact Greg S. Law, today.

    We offer a free initial consultation, and are available for evening and weekend appointments. We also accept major credit cards.

     

    Source: https://www.ksl.com/article/46309521/ksl-investigates-state-failures-to-enforce-texting-and-driving-law