April is National Distracted Driving Awareness Month, to remind people about the dangers of trying to do other activities while behind the wheel of a moving vehicle.

Like eating or glancing at text messages — or, worse, trying to respond to those messages.

“Any activity that takes your eyes off the road and your hands off the wheel is extremely reckless and puts you and other roadway users at risk,” said Katie Bower, director of the Michigan Office of Highway Safety Planning.

In support of National Distracted Driving Awareness Month, law enforcement agencies throughout the state are teaming up with the OHSP for a high-visibility enforcement effort of Michigan’s Hands-Free Driving Law, which took effect June 30, 2023.

“In an effort to encourage safer driving behaviors, officers will be stepping up enforcement and ticketing anyone who is caught texting or committing other hands-free law violations while driving.” Bower said.

The goal of this initiative is to reduce traffic crashes caused by distracted drivers, ultimately preventing injuries and deaths associated with mobile device use and texting while driving, an OHSP news release states.

According to Michigan Traffic Crash Facts, Michigan had 15,441 confirmed motor vehicle crashes involving a distracted driver during 2022, the most recent year for which data is available. These distracted-driving crashes resulted in 5,905 injuries and 57 fatalities.

“Determining whether a distraction was a factor in a crash isn’t always easy to ascertain, and because of this, we know distracted driving is underrepresented in crash reports,” Bower added.

Research shows the most common crash type for distracted-driving crashes is rear-end crashes, which accounted for 48.4% of all distracted-driving crashes in 2022.

Violating Michigan’s Hands-Free Driving Law can be costly: For the first offense, a $100 ticket and/or 16 hours of community service; for the second offense, a $250 ticket and/or 24 hours of community service; and for a third offense, within a three-year-period, the driver is to complete a driving-improvement course.

Distracting activities include —

— Texting or messaging;

— Checking social media;

— Talking on the phone, even hands-free;

— Watching videos;

— Eating, drinking or smoking;

— Grooming;

— Looking after children or pets;

— Chatting with passengers;

— Searching or reaching for an item;

— Looking at crashes or roadside sights;

— Checking a navigation system;

— Reading anything, including maps;

— Adjusting climate or music controls;

— Listening to loud music.

Ways to avoid being distracted, as recommended by OHSP —

— Use your phone’s Do Not Disturb feature or an app to silence calls and texts;

— Put the phone in the glove box or elsewhere to curb the urge to look at it;

— Avoid eating, drinking and smoking while driving;

— Never attempt to read while driving, including a map;

— Do not do any personal grooming or adjust clothing while driving;

— Avoid a lot of interaction with passengers;

— Emotions can interfere with driving, so do not drive when angry or upset;

— Keep music at a reasonable level and avoid using headphones or earbuds;

— Pull over to a safe location and park your vehicle if you need to make or take a call;

— Do not drive with a pet in the lap;

— Ask a passenger to help navigate, change the music or monitor your texts;

— Pull over to a safe place to address situations involving children;

— Do not daydream when behind the wheel.

For more information, go online to www.michigan.gov/DistractedDriving.