Grants Pass cracks down on phone usage while driving

Grants Pass, Ore. — Hundreds of drivers have been caught using their phone while behind the wheel.
Grants Pass Public Safety is saying it’s time to buckle down.

In 2016 alone, the Grants Pass Department of Public Safety issued 165 citations for phone usage while driving. They also issued out 162 warnings. That’s why now, they’re saying, it’s time to crack down.

“You’re not only responsible for your vehicle. You’re responsible for watching all the other vehicles and all the other drivers on the roadway,” said Officer Shali Marshall, Grants Pass Department of Public Safety.

Marshall spends her days on the job monitoring traffic in Grants Pass. She’s on the traffic team that decided it was time to focus in on people on the phone while driving.

It’s become a common problem – so common it only took ten minutes. For Marshall to pull someone over during our ride along Friday.

Public safety says the most common ways people try to get away with texting and driving include holding the phone near the steering wheel, and even keeping it between your legs. Either way, patrollers are saying, you’re not fooling anyone.

“It’s very obvious and for the most part, people are honest and are like – oh man, you caught me, I was texting and driving. But occasionally there are those people that are like, nope wasn’t me. Okay, well – if your phone is up here and you’re texting – you’re still texting and driving,” she said.

And if you’re thinking of lying your way out of getting caught – remember who you’re arguing with.

“People will make up all kinds of excuses – I mean, it’s the cops – we’re used to it. But it’s pretty obvious, it’s pretty hard to be dishonest and get your way out of it when this is what we do all day long,” she said.

If you’re ever unsure whether or not your phone usage is illegal, Public Safety said you can answer that question with one rule of thumb.

“If it’s in your hand, it’s a violation of the law while you’re driving. So if you’re holding your phone in your hand while you’re driving using the speaker phone – that’s a violation,” said Lieutenant Todd Moran, Grants Pass Departments of Public Safety.

No matter what, it can wait.