BLOUNT COUNTY — Deputy Josh Riggle of the Blount County Sheriff's Office says he sees people on their phones while driving multiple times a day.
“Distracted driving has actually become a bigger problem than drinking and driving," he said.
“You don’t even have to be in a police car, just your everyday drive you’ll see multiple people just texting and driving.”
Studies show distracted driving crashes are up statewide. Distracted driving includes doing anything on a phone besides making a phone call while operating a motor vehicle. That includes GPS navigation without a hands-free mount.
Riggle said he was alarmed at a recent quarterly report compiled by the state about distracted driving fatalities.
"It’s triple what the DUI rate is. It’s a big problem. That’s fatalities … that’s somebody that lost their life," he said.
According to the Tennessee Department of Homeland Security, distracted driving crashes have doubled in Blount County since texting and driving was made illegal in 2009. Anderson County has seen the same rise, and Knox County has seen an alarming rise, as well.
“People don’t realize, you know, they think they can check a message, it’s just a second, but split second like that … anything can happen," Riggle said.
Deputies are hoping a newly approved state grant will help them crack down. The grant allows deputies to work overtime in order to help patrol for distracted driving.
“There’s been times I’m behind cars and they’re weaving in and out of the lanes and you’re like well they possibly could be intoxicated, but they’re texting and driving," Riggle said. “We’re trying to cut down on it.”
