The St. Albert RCMP recently handed out a slew of tickets after swapping vehicles with a neighbouring RCMP traffic unit to monitor the distracted driving in the city.
The police borrowed an unmarked Chevrolet Tahoe to more easily observe drivers who may be using their cellphones.
“The availability, the dependency and the urge to be connected to friends, family and social media on hand-held cellular devices is at the forefront of distracted driving offences and possibly low speed crashes,” Cpl. Tim Gaultois said.
The St. Albert RCMP traffic unit conducted multiple distracted driving initiatives over a 21-day period and issued a total of 84 tickets. Cpl. Gaultois said it is a “tremendous” increase from the monthly average of 12 violations.
Part of the reason the operation was so successful was because of the height of the SUV.
"Police often see a vehicle and are sure the driver is texting because of where they are looking and their level of distraction but members do not engage or stop the vehicle because of the inability to see the device being used,” Gaultios said. “A high number of trucks and SUVs in Alberta have been raised with lift kits, which makes our job very difficult to see into a vehicle, especially when sitting in a lower vehicle such as a Ford Crown Victoria or other police car."
The St. Albert RCMP would like to remind drivers that the penalty for distracted driving in Alberta is $287 and three demerits.
The Traffic Safety Act penalizes drivers for using hand-held cellphones, texting and emailing, even while stopped at a red light. It also includes using any electronic devices, entering information into GPS units, reading print material and writing or sketching. The Act also restricts personal grooming such as putting on makeup, brushing hair, shaving or clipping toenails.
Along with this list, the Traffic Safety Act allows police to charge a driver who lets a pet get in the way of safe driving.
The act allows police to ticket a driver who allows anything to occupy the front seat of the vehicle and interferes with the driver’s access to the controls and the safe operation of the vehicle. The police may also charge a driver who allows for anything to cause an obstruction of the driver’s clear view in any direction.
The St. Albert Traffic Services Unit will continue to perform these types of traffic safety projects throughout the following year and look forward to adding a few SUVs to their fleet in the near future.
