(Photo By Flickr User Inventorchris)

April is national distracted driving awareness month.

Illinois State Police want you to know they notice when you swerve in and out of the lines and look down at your phone.

Since January, ISP District 9 has written 153 citations and warnings for distracted driving.

Besides cell phone use, distracted driving can include eating while driving and conversations with passengers, among other things.

Lieutenant J.W. Price said,

“People who don’t get seven, eight hours of sleep a night, they get on the road in the morning with only a couple hours sleep, it’s almost the equivalent to driving drunk. You just don’t have the thought process or cognitive ability to respond to crashes and things like that.”

ISP will have increased patrols out looking for distracted drivers. Those citations are $120 and go against your driving record.

(Information courtesy of WICS-TV)