Category: Criminal Law
Click It or Ticket Campaign
June 12, 2013 | Jon P. EricksonMinnesota was a part of a national “Click It or Ticket” campaign over Memorial Day weekend. You may have noticed electronic freeway billboards advertising this “Click It or Ticket” effort. The campaign has been sponsored by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration(NHTSA} for more than 20 years. They have seen seat belt use go up to where they now estimate that 86{a0c01d20c42349884e67ff80c137866b0a9fe47aaae8f8a86a605a369ae487c3} of drivers nation wide now buckle up. The state of Washington leads with an average 97.5{a0c01d20c42349884e67ff80c137866b0a9fe47aaae8f8a86a605a369ae487c3} seat belt usage,with Minnesota at about 95{a0c01d20c42349884e67ff80c137866b0a9fe47aaae8f8a86a605a369ae487c3}. Since 2005, the state of California has erected more than 600 traffic signs supporting seat belt usage. The California Office of Traffic Safety claims that this public service message approach has worked, and Californian seat belt usage is now up to 96.6{a0c01d20c42349884e67ff80c137866b0a9fe47aaae8f8a86a605a369ae487c3}. My hope is that Minnesotans will continue to get the message, and by next year will be at the top of seat belt usage nationwide. BUCKLE UP!
Read MoreTexting and Driving Dangers
May 28, 2013 | Jon P. EricksonI recently read an article that stated that “texting is now the leading cause of death for teen drivers.” The article was based on a study done for the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. The study contains data that supports that texting while driving has become an even greater hazard for teenagers than drinking and driving. Minnesota law prohibits operating a motor vehicle while “using a wireless communications device to compose, read or send an electronic message while the car is in motion or a part of traffic.” A violation is a misdemeanor crime. This law applies to juveniles as well as adults. Minnesota law also prohibits any driver under age 18 to use a phone for any purpose while driving. The days between Memorial and Labor Days have been called the “100 deadliest days for teenage drivers.” A coalition of our country’s largest wireless carriers have joined in a national advertising campaign to discourage mobile users from texting while driving during these upcoming 100 days. AT&T, Verizon, Sprint and T-Mobile are all joining this campaign which they call “It Can Wait.” Here is AT&T’s Don’t Text While Driving Documentary: Let’s all pause and join them in reminding our teenage drivers that “It Can Wait.” You can also find out more information…
Read MoreSummer Drive Time ~ Keeping Safe on the Roads
May 23, 2013 | Jon P. EricksonI recently read this article in Star Tribune’s newspaper titled “Deaths on state roads top 100 for the year.” It references the state’s seat-belt crackdown which began on May 20th. Once again there were some sobering statistics about the number of traffic deaths where no seat belt was used. In the past three years, “852 motorists have died in crashes and 42 percent (361) of those were not wearing seat belts.” We can, and must do better in getting the message out to all drivers but most certainly our young drivers! The good news is that seat-belt use continues to climb in Minnesota at some 93{a0c01d20c42349884e67ff80c137866b0a9fe47aaae8f8a86a605a369ae487c3} as compared to the national average of 84{a0c01d20c42349884e67ff80c137866b0a9fe47aaae8f8a86a605a369ae487c3}. Let’s all try to improve this percentage. On Monday I was at the courthouse in Buffalo, Minnesota. When I came out of the courthouse there was a “crashed car” on a flatbed trailer with some signs on it. It was the car involved in an accident in Wright County in 2012. Its roof was crashed in, and one side of it was almost demolished. One of the signs on the trailer stated that the driver and occupant wore seat belts, and survived this obviously terrible crash. Making an effort to slow down and assure that you and all of…
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