Over 5,000 Distracted Driving Citations Issued in MN During April Campaign

A month-long distracted driving enforcement campaign in April resulted in officers handing out more than 5,000 citations, nearly 2,000 more than last year’s campaign.

A total of 5,380 citations were given out for violations of the hands-free cell phone law, which was passed in 2019 and prohibits holding a cell phone while driving. 278 agencies participated in the campaign this year. Traffic safety officials call the number of citations “disturbing, unacceptable, and extremely frustrating.”

In greater Minnesota, agencies with the most citations included:

• Minnesota State Patrol – Virginia region: 387
• Minnesota State Patrol – St. Cloud region: 168
• Minnesota State Patrol – Rochester region: 166
• Minnesota State Patrol – Duluth region: 134
• Minnesota State Patrol – Detroit Lakes region: 109
• Minnesota State Patrol – Mankato region: 81
• Mankato Department of Public Safety Police: 71
• Minnesota State Patrol – Brainerd region: 71
• New Ulm Police Department: 64

Preliminary figures for Minnesota show that distracted driving contributed to one in 11 crashes from 2019 to 2023, and that distracted driving contributed to an average of 29 deaths and 146 life-changing injuries a year from 2019 to 2023.