The Oklahoma Highway Patrol is putting a special emphasis on distracted driving.
The movement is dedicated to Trooper Nicholas Dees, who was killed by a distracted driver in January 2015, and aims to remind people of the serious dangers of distracted driving.
Dees and Trooper Keith Burch were both standing outside their vehicles while investigating a tractor-trailer collision on I-40 in Seminole County when a distracted driver failed to yield to warning lights and struck both troopers. Dees died instantly and Burch received serious injuries and has since retired.
The tragic 2015 incident led to the passing of the "Trooper Nicholas Dees and Trooper Keith Burch Act of 2015," which states: "It shall be unlawful for any person to operate a motor vehicle on any street or highway within this state while using a handheld electronic communication device to manually compose, send, or read an electronic text message while the motor vehicle is in motion."
As of Nov. 1, 2015, texting and driving could cost you $100, but Trooper Eric Foster says OHP still sees distracted drivers on the road every day.
In 2015, nearly 3,5000 people were killed and an additional 391,000 were injured in crashes involving distracted drivers.
Foster says distracted driving is just as dangerous as drunk driving. Both impair your ability to respond quickly.
“If you're going highway speeds and you look down for just a second, you're closing several hundred feet in just a matter of seconds," said Foster. "You can't respond, and if you can't respond you could cause serious injury to you or potentially death."
Texting while driving takes your eyes off the road for an average of 5 seconds. At 55 MPH, that's enough time to cover the length of a football field.
Foster says technology has caught up to us and we are now able to use voice recognition to send a message or make a call and keep our hands on the wheel.
A distracted driving event will take place Thursday at 1:30 in Seminole Nation Casino parking lot at I-40 and State Highway 99 in Seminole.