Law enforcement across Minnesota have regularly conducted a statewide distracted driving crackdown throughout the month of April in hopes of keeping our roads a bit safer. The statistics from the most recent campaign have been released, and they suggest that distracted driving remains a major concern in St. Paul and across the great state of Minnesota.
According to law enforcement, more than 6,000 distracted driving citations were issued during the month-long crackdown. This marks a significant increase from last year when more than 5,300 Minnesotans earned a citation during the 2024 crackdown.
The St. Paul Police Department handed out the most tickets of any department by a long shot. St. Paul police officers cited 1,326 distracted drivers during the campaign. For reference, the Minnesota State Patrol handed out 329 tickets, which was the second highest total by department.
“We are not out to write tickets, we’re out to save lives. But if drivers won’t take safety seriously, enforcement becomes necessary.” said Mike Hanson, director of the Office of Traffic Safety. “Every time you take your eyes off the road, you’re gambling with your life and the lives of others around you. No text, no call is worth a tragedy.”
Not A Surprise
We tried to warn motorists that police would be out in full force during the campaign, and so did many police departments. The St. Paul Police Department posted numerous videos and warnings on their social media channels in an effort to alert the community and ensure people got the message to put their distractions down. Unfortunately, it doesn’t appear that the message was received.
“Everybody thinks it will just take a second to look at their phone and it’s no big deal and they’ve done it a hundred times and nothing bad has happened — but we have seen crashes that happen in an instant and not only alters the drivers life but the lives of everyone around them,” said St. Paul Police Cmdr. Jeremy Ellison.
Police noted that one 32-year-old driver was cited for two separate hands-free violations withing 10 minutes of each other. In another instance, a driver who was stuck in traffic congestion was startled by the presence of an officer knocking on her window because she was looking so intently at her phone.
You may think you can get away with texting and driving, but distracted driving claims too many lives each year. In 2024, there were at least 29 fatalities and 137 serious injuries attributed to distracted driving. These numbers are concerning because each of these incidents were completely preventable.
“It’s 100 percent preventable,” Ellison said. “Those text messages and changing the music or using GPS driving in hand, those are all things that can wait or should be done ahead of time before driving. We really need people to put their phones down.”
We’ll gladly help you contest a distracted driving citation or similar traffic ticket, but we’d rather you drive safely and keep yourself and everyone else on the road safe. For more information on how the team at Appelman Law Firm can assist in handling your traffic ticket, reach out for a free case consultation today at (952) 224-2277.
