Living in Nipomo, Gerald Stover travels out of town often, and says driving safely on the highway isn’t always easy.
“I've seen a lot of people, you know, driving dangerously,” Stover said. “I'm afraid sometimes when there's a lot of traffic. It makes me nervous.”
According to research from the San Luis Obispo Council of Governments (SLOCOG), 160 people in the county had life-altering injuries or fatalities due to crashes in 2024. Thirty percent of those crashes are attributed to distracted driving.
Christie Dunlop from Orcutt says she sees it all too often.
“I think with technology just advancing, it becomes easy access,” Dunlop said. “Even if you're not allowed to have your phone on anymore. People will put them in their cup holders. I see people constantly looking down as they're driving and looking up.”
SLOCOG Transportation Planner John Dinunzio says distracted and impaired driving has increased by 70% in the last five years in San Luis Obispo County.
“The thing about distracted and impaired driving is that they are preventable,” Dinunzio said. “Making the choice to have more than the legal limit to drink is, of course, your personal choice. But when you then choose to get into the car, you're putting yourself and others at risk.”
He says a Sept. 25 community event at the Ludwick Community Center in San Luis Obispo will highlight the dangers of distracted and impaired driving and connect people in the community with organizations working to prevent it.
Dunlop thinks the event will provide open conversations on the issue.
“It's very hard to make change if people haven't been directly, personally affected,” Dunlop said. “it's very easy for me to say because I've actually seen devastating effects of it firsthand. It's still just a concept to people.”
Stover says he wants to see a visible change.
“To me, enforcement is more important than anything else,” he said.
“The idea behind the event is, is education and prevention, so that, if education and prevention for impaired and distracted driving is done correctly, then we wouldn't need enforcement,” Dinunzio said.
The event starts at 4:30 p.m. and will feature many presenters associated with preventing distracted and impaired driving. San Luis Obispo County residents are encouraged to attend the free forum. More information is available at the event’s website.
