BECAUSE WE CHOOSE TO LIVE FREE RATHER THAN TO DIE:

Distracted NH drivers are a target (KIMBERLY HOUGHTON, 11/12/10, Union Leader)

Between 30 and 35 police officers were on detail Friday morning in the Manchester, Bedford, Merrimack and Amherst area, focusing heavily on the Everett Turnpike, Route 101 and Interstate 93 and 293 corridors. Typically, about eight patrol cars would be monitoring those four regions on a normal morning. Once a month, officers will hit the roads in this unprecedented effort to bring public awareness to motorists about the dangers of distracted driving and attempt to change their bad habits.

Police made more than 300 motor vehicle stops Friday on the F.E. Everett Turnpike, Interstate 93 and Route 101 from Nashua to Londonderry. Police said 194 warnings were issued and 109 traffic citations delivered in a three-hour span as part of Operation Safe Commute.

Drivers are texting, speeding, eating, reading, tailgating, and the list goes on, according to Lt. Chris Aucoin of the New Hampshire State Police, who said people are rushed and anxious to get stuff done -- even behind the wheel.

"It is dangerous, and it only takes a few seconds to look away and something on the road can change," he said.

"Every time I think I've seen it all, something new surprises me," says Trooper Phil Akstin as we patrol in the Bedford toll area. He says it is increasingly common to see drivers texting. Akstin, who has been a state trooper for about seven years, says when he first started patrolling the highways, drunken driving was the biggest concern.

Now, if people are swerving or crossing the yellow line, it is often because they are answering their phone, making a phone call or texting, not drinking and driving, he said.