Hundreds, perhaps thousands of people across Connecticut are getting out the checkbooks this weekend to pay fines for using their cell phones while driving.   It’s all part of a new crackdown on distracted driving that began on April 1st, and on that day alone, 161 drivers were cited in Hartford.   That’s almost seven people an hour!

This Sunday on Face the State, we talked about the new effort to make the roads safer from drivers who are more concerned with checking Instagram or sending a text than paying attention to the perils of traffic that only an alert driver can avoid.  Our guests are Deputy Chief Brian Foley and Officer Mike Diana of the Hartford Police Department.

The pair shared some eyeopening accounts of distracted drivers, some repeat offenders, and they spelled out the law in simple terms.  I’m only human, and I’ll admit I’ve checked a text at a stop light when my iPhone beeps, but no longer.   I’m taking some advice I learned from Hartford Courant reporter Daniela Altimari, who told me a while back her phone goes in the backseat.   In my case, mine now rides in the way, way back of my Buick Roadmaster.  I can still get calls tghrough my Bluetooth, that is unless I turn my phone off, which Chief Foley also recommends.

Watch the segment right here:  http://www.wfsb.com/video?autoStart=true&topVideoCatNo=default&clipId=11375225