(Click on the image for the News4 report by Adam Tuss)
"On Monday morning Police Chief Hank Stawinski and I conducted traffic enforcement along our roadways. We only handed out warnings that morning, but I had the opportunity to speak with several drivers that we pulled over for infractions such as speeding and distracted driving. And there was one thing that stuck out to me; all of the people that we stopped felt that they were doing something that was taking a matter of a second and not causing any harm.
Statements such as, “I was just taking a second to call into my job to find out the location of where I should be.” Or even, “I was just taking a second to pick up the phone rather than to hit the hands-free button.”
Well, it only takes a second for an awful tragedy to occur, and unfortunately we’ve seen this time and time again in Prince George’s County over the past several months.
Last December, three young children were killed in an accident on Route 210. At the start of this year, five children were killed in a crash along Route 301, and many more people have been seriously injured as a result of crashes, including several students from DuVal High School less than a month ago.
Too many people have been hurt and too many lives lost, so it’s past time that we change the driving culture here in Prince George’s County. That won’t happen at the police station or in the court house, but instead it must start in our community. We need every Prince Georgian to commit to wearing a seatbelt, driving free from distractions and driving sober.
It only takes a second to make the decision to wear a seatbelt and to make sure everyone else in your car is wearing one as well. It only takes a second to use a hands-free button in your car, rather than picking up your phone in your hand. And it only takes a second to make the decision to not drive yourself home after drinking, or even to make that decision for a friend.
So please, Prince Georgians, use those seconds to make decisions that are safe. While our police have and will continue to step up their enforcement, that is only part of the solution. Our community coming together and making those safe decisions, collectively, will be the effort that truly makes our roads safer."