Local police to crack down on distracted driving

Drivers not getting the message says Kim

Distracted drivers be aware: over the month of February, local police will be cracking down on those of us who are not so attentive behind the wheel.

According to Boyle RCMP Detachment commander Corp. Sonny Kim, both RCMP officers and Alberta Sheriffs will be out in full force this month to clamp down on the trend of drivers being increasingly distracted by things happening in their vehicles.

Even with the recent passing of a distracted driving law, which came into effect Sept. 1, 2011, Kim said drivers are still not getting the point.

“There are still a lot of people on the phone and doing other illegal things, it is the same problem as before,” he said. “The message is not getting through.”

That message of a distraction-free vehicle is one that comes backed up with a significant amount of research.

According to statistics sent out by the RCMP, studies have shown that distracted driving contributes to between 20 to 30 per cent of all collisions, and distracted drivers are threes times more likely to have an accident than attentive ones.

And even for those driving at a normal speed, there is little time to react. A car traveling at 50 kilometres per hour travels almost 14 metres in one second, enough space to make the difference between crashing or not.

“There have already been a number of collisions on Highway 63 this year,” Kim said, adding that although they may not have been due to distracted driving, police do not want the potentially deadly trend to continue.

Those drivers that are not getting the message when it comes to in-car distractions can expect at least a $172 fine under Alberta’s Traffic Safety Act. If their infractions are particularly egregious, the charge can be bumped up to careless driving, which carries a $402 fine and six demerit points.

Kim made sure to point out that it is not just cell phone users that are considered distracted.

“There’s other things as well, anything you do inside the vehicle when you take concentration away from the road is distracted driving,” he said, adding that it includes eating, fussing with other technology or passengers in the vehicle.

He said that even a few days into the new month, local police have already given out a number of tickets targeting distracted drivers.

Overall, he explained, taking away distractions is a matter of good planning.

Make sure you have made the required phones calls, set the radio and temperature control dials and get your kids set up with an activity before heading out on a trip. If you do need to do something, do it while you are parked.

“There’s other drivers on the road other than you,” he said. “Having a collision with just your vehicle is one thing, but when it could affect other drivers you need to be more careful.”

He added that while hands-free devices do help cut down on distraction, they are not a cure-all for other things going on in the vehicle.