You’d be hard pressed to find someone who hasn’t been distracted while driving, if for no other reason than because somewhere along the way we’ve all been conditioned to check our cellphone every time it dings.
We secretly check our text messages and e-mails at stop signs or at a fast food drive-thru. And more often than not we pay more attention to the songs we’re trying to find on our cellphone than the road in front of us.
And in some more extreme case, people fix their makeup, or finish their breakfast while waiting for the light to change.
We all know that this is wrong. We all know that one of the major causes of car accidents is not paying attention to our surroundings.
It’s a fact.
But that doesn’t really stop us from doing it. At the same time, it’s hard to stand on a soapbox and preach that this is a horrible thing and everyone should be ashamed.
It’s hard to find someone innocent of this seemly innocuous, but potentially fatal crime. Barely a week goes by in court without someone coming through charged with distracted driving.
So, consider this a wake-up call.
Until this point, Alberta has been relatively lenient when it comes to distracted drivers. In other provinces, those caught texting while driving can have their licences taken away or face extreme fines — Ontario distracted drivers face up to a $1,000 fine and three demerit points, while in Prince Edward Island the fine tops out at $1,200 and carries five demerit points.
Starting on Jan. 1 in Alberta, if you’re charged with distracted driving you’ll get three demerit points on your driver’s licence.
After eight, you get a notice mailed to your house and when it reaches 15, your licence automatically get taken away.
This really isn’t a small thing. Certainly the $287 fine is something that may not seem too extreme, but demerits stick with you for a long time.
Unfortunately it’s hard to say that this will deter people. In fact, this could just be the first step along a path of more extreme measures taken by our lawmakers.
So, before it gets to be even harsher punishments for doing something that we all know we shouldn’t be doing anyway, just stop. Pay attention to the road and drive like we all were taught when we were first given keys to a vehicle — carefully and looking in front of you.
