Police in Worcester will stop issuing tickets this week for distracted driving, passing along warnings to violators instead. The initiative is part of a larger effort to raise awareness about the Massachusetts law banning the use of handheld phones while driving.
This is an excerpt from WBUR's daily morning newsletter, WBUR Today. If you like what you read and want it in your inbox,For this first week in April, Worcester police will stop issuing tickets for what they say is likely the most frequently broken traffic law: distracted driving. It’s part of a larger — perhaps counterintuitive — effort to raise awareness about Massachusetts’ ban on the use of handheld phones. Police say the law, which, immediately took a backseat to the COVID-19 pandemic.
By the numbers: Since police began enforcing the hands-free driving law, distracted driving citations in Massachusetts have risen from nearly 30,000 in 2020 to 54,000 in 2023. The long-term plan: The city is aiming to install raised crosswalks and better lighting at the intersection, which the nearby Boston Children’s Museum says has historically had problems withhas officially returned for the season, offering 10-minute trips across the harbor every half hour between East Boston’s Lewis Wharf and Long Wharf downtown. The ferry averaged 1,700 riders a day during its first full season last year, according to David Perry, the T’s director of commuter ferries.
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