Hang up behind the wheel for Halloween

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) -- No matter what we get with Hurricane Sandy on Monday or Tuesday, RIDOT is reminding motorists to be careful once Halloween Night rolls around.

Kids will be on sidewalks and streets all over Rhode Island, and drivers need to avoid distracted driving.

And take note: RIDOT is also telling you to keep phone conversations behind the wheel to a minimum too.

"No text message or phone conversation is worth the risk of a crash," that could lead to serious injury or death, RIDOT Director Michael P. Lewis said in a news release Friday.

Distraction comes not only from holding the phone up to your ear (which many phones today can mitigate with after-market Bluetooth headsets or in-car speakerphones) -- but from just carrying on a conversation as well, to say nothing of the distraction of texting while driving, which takes your eyes and your brain away from the road.

RIDOT, along with Attorney General Peter Kilmartin and representatives from AT&T, has been visiting area high schools throughout the fall to discourage texting and driving, the release said, and plans to continue the campaign into next year.