https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0018720818786132

Distracted Driving Fatal Crash stats 2017: https://crashstats.nhtsa.dot.gov/Api/Public/ViewPublication/812700

We all know it is bad form to text or talk on the phone WHILE driving.

And of all of us, the cops know this best! THEY are unlucky people responding to and investigating those collisions.

And yet they still do it.
We ALL see it.

It’s a pretty simple answer.
And yet I have zero confidence in BPD to regulate themselves– otherwise THIS would not be our topic of discussion.

Many police are also ex-military and have gray in their hair by 25. Police work also requires a degree today. Most police have both. They aren’t some kid straight out of high school.

The basic stat of traffic deaths can be found on wiki. I collect stats as a hobby and follow trend lines – 538 is a great daily read. I work in analytics 🙂 Cause and effect of socioeconomic trends is fascinating partly because society has not improved much since the Roman mob but economics and technology have. We’ve trended past the 50’s anti-authoritative and are entering the 60’s decriminalization phase that is already mixed with the 70’s and 80’s huge rises in crime and increased deaths due to lack of enforcement. The mid 90’s only saw a drop in crime due to the legalization of abortion in the 70’s. I think that drop in crime may hit us again in 10-12 years due to the rise of ML/AI and always-monitored society. Until then we’ve already seen… 5k additional deaths in traffic annually, 50% increase in suicides due to unrealistic expectations (GenY), ongoing violent protests (AntiFa) spreading, decriminalization combined with disarmament ongoing (40% increased assaults due to lack of tools for self defense), etc. And of course don’t forget the idea that all journalists have that the pen is mightier than the sword… until it isn’t, which is too late.

I disagree with your assessment of first responder superpowers of multitasking. In fact many are young with very little experience at much of anything. Youthful over exuberance and inexperienced judgement is a problem in the first resopnder ranks. First responder vehicles are in frequent dangerous/deadly collisions as are medivac helicopters.

Look to FAA, NTSB, NHTSA, and USAF human factors studies to further destroy this myth of superpowers of multitasking. Nobody has them. Nobody. A lot of people think they do, but they are proven incorrect.

There is a lot of research and statistical data backing what I say, but just like medical errors, the data is not being brought to the attention of the general public. Huge MSM failure.

On the other hand I agree communications are very important to Police/Fire/EMS thus some sort of compromise needs to be made. In short do not allow a distraction unless absolutely necessary. The meridian police department’s plan for this seems to be a fairly good one. We should look across the nation and Canada for existing solutions before experimenting with our own interventions.