Texting And Driving Crackdown

This story was written by Mark Langlois and posted by Bill Bittar.

Monroe is joining Ridgefield, Newtown, Danbury, Bethel, Brookfield and the Connecticut State Police in a $275,000 crackdown on texting and driving.

Police chiefs, officers and members of the the state Department of Transportation, the state Department of Motor Vehicles, the Connecticut State Police and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration met in Danbury Wednesday to launch the crackdown that starts Thursday.

“This is an opportunity for this state to enforce texting laws and make a difference,” said Michael Brown, director of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s impaired driving initiative. “We can save lives.”

Connecticut State Police Captain Thomas Garbedian called texting and driving the number one cause of distracted driving.

"We're not doing this to harass you," said Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton, a huge fan of social media. "Tweeting is off limits in the car. We want our streets to be safe."