The federal and state governments have granted Syracuse $300,0000 for a pilot program to boost law enforcement of distracted driving laws prohibiting texting or talking on a cell phone while driving, announced U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood on Thursday in Schine Student Center at Syracuse University.

The two-year program is active immediately and will affect Syracuse University students who text while driving, said Tony Callisto, chief of the Department of Public Safety.

“Police in the Syracuse area are looking for people breaking distracted driving laws,” Callisto said. “There will be zero tolerance. If someone is found, they will be issued a ticket.”

Funding for the program will provide for the overtime pay of state troopers, Onondaga County Sheriff’s deputies and police at the Syracuse Police Department patrolling for distracted driving offenses, Callisto said. The federal government is providing $200,000 to Syracuse area police, and the state has contributed $100,000.

Syracuse is only one of two cities chosen to participate in the pilot, which will also entail public awareness advertisements and studies to see how well the efforts change behavior and attitudes. The other city chosen for the pilot was Hartford, Conn.

Callisto compared the new program cracking down on driving distractions to other police campaigns such as “Stop DWI” and “Click it or Ticket.”

Twenty years ago seat belt use was approximately 20 to 30 percent in New York despite laws enforcing them, Callisto said. But after instituting “Click it or Ticket,” a statewide public awareness campaign to ensure people wear seat belts, that number has risen to around 90 percent, he said.

“Once there was some money for strict enforcement, people understood they didn’t have a choice,” Callisto said.

Although DPS is not receiving any of the public funding, Callisto said DPS officers are enforcing the law, as well.

In LaHood’s announcement, he said the U.S. Department of Transportation chose Syracuse because there is very good coordination between various police departments in the area, Callisto said.

“They work so well together, they thought this was a great spot to eliminate the use while driving,” Callisto said.

Plans to have LaHood give the announcement at SU have been in the works for several weeks, Callisto said. In addition to LaHood, Gov. David Paterson was also at SU for the announcement.

Callisto thinks the program might help raise concerns about pedestrian safety, in particular, because pedestrian traffic is especially high in Syracuse, he said. The high volume of students who text while walking across the street makes the issue of distraction even more important to address, he said.

“The public streets are used more by pedestrians during the day and evening,” Callisto said. “Distracted drivers create a significant threat. We’re lucky more accidents haven’t happened.”

Published on April 7, 2010 at 12:00 pm