The Utah Department of Public Safety launched a campaign Monday to enforce the state’s distracted driving laws.

From Monday to April 20, law enforcement officers in Utah and Salt Lake counties will participate in a covert driving enforcement blitz.

Spotters in unmarked vehicles will watch out for drivers who are on their phones, grooming, eating or engaging in other distractions and report them to nearby marked units, who will then take appropriate action, such as issuing a ticket or educating the driver, according to a DPS news release.

“We’re starting our heavy enforcement on distracted driving this week, specifically, just because we’re beginning our warmer months, and the end of the spring is where we begin our 100 deadliest days,” Utah Highway Patrol Sgt. Luis Silva said. “So we want to get ahead of the trend and make sure that people aren’t driving distracted.”

As part of the operation, officers from 42 agencies will take on 480 additional shifts in April to operate the campaign, DPS said. Silva said these overtime hours will focus solely on finding distracted drivers.

According to state data, there were 5,189 distracted driving-related crashes in Utah in 2025, causing 11 fatalities and 166 serious injuries. Of those crashes, 55% involved people failing to stay in the proper lane, and 18% involved following too closely.

From 2021 to 2025, DPS said cellphone use accounted for 19% of distracted driving crashes, while passengers were 6%, audio was 4%, other inside distractions were 21% and outside distractions were 18%.

Silva said the most common distracted driving violation is being on a phone but said it can also be manifested in eating or drinking water.

“Those activities in themselves, drinking water or eating, aren’t directly illegal, but (they may) inhibit your ability to safely drive,” he said. “So say you drift out of your lane, or you make a lane change without signaling because you’re trying to multitask so many things, that’s when it becomes illegal, and it’s considered careless driving. So it goes along with distracted driving.”