As lives become busier people are more in a rush to get from one place to another, vehicles have become a catchall venue – phone booth, breakfast nook, makeup centre.
Unfortunately, this time-saving technique is not only dangerous it is deadly. According to Students for Cellphone-free Driving, distracted driving is a factor in 80 per cent of collisions on Alberta roads. That means 248 of the 310 collision deaths in 2012 – as reported by Alberta Vital Statistics – were affected by distracted driving.
In 2013 – two years after the distracting driving law took effect in Alberta – students from St. Albert Catholic Schools teamed up with representatives from Allstate Insurance to conduct a visual survey of distracted driving in this city.
Over the course of an hour – between 7:30 a.m. and 8:30 a.m. – at the intersection of St. Albert Trail and St. Vital Avenue, the students counted 223 drivers doing everything from texting and talking on the phone to grooming and eating.
While those activities are ticketable under Alberta law, it seems motorists continue to split their focus between driving and actions that are taking their eyes off the road. Nowhere in this country is that trend worse than in this province. One in 10 Albertans admit to using their cellphone while driving, double the national average.
Four years after distracted driving laws were enacted in Alberta – laws touted as the toughest in Canada at the time – law enforcement and government are not satisfied with the results. The current $172 fine has not seemed to deter distracted driving.
Now, in an effort to stiffen the fines, Bill 204, a private member’s bill before the legislature, is proposing upping the fine to $250 and penalizing drivers who are ticketed with three demerit points. If passed, Ontario would be the only province left to implement demerits for distracted driving. We hope steeper fines and higher insurance costs will be enough to curb this disturbing habit.
It is unfortunate stiffer fines and punishments are required to motivate common sense. There are enough stories circulating of people being injured and killed because of inattentive motorists to drive the message home.
Renaye Wade, the woman who met with Alberta Justice Minister Jonathon Denis, before he issued his support for Bill 204, is one such case. Wade is still recovering from the effects of an accident that left her in a coma for more than a month.
She was inside a stalled car on the Yellowhead when she was hit by a distracted driver and thrown into the path of a semi. The accident shattered bones and the lasting effects of her brain injury still plague her.
While the need for enforcement and punishments to correct behaviour is necessary, perhaps people taking more responsibility for their actions is in order. If a $250 fine and higher insurance premiums sound bad, also consider you could be responsible for the death or permanent injury of someone’s child, sibling or parent, or perhaps a loved one of your own.
It is time to hang up and drive.
