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#JustDrive is SGI’s October Spotlight

Oct 1, 2018 | 4:49 PM

You’re going to want to leave your phone alone.

SGI’s October spotlight is focusing on Distracted Driving, launching the “#JustDrive: Distracted driving is a bad look on you” campaign. SGI will be putting messages out there with the campaign, and police will be paying extra attention to distracted drivers.

SGI’s Tyler McMurchy told battlefordsNOW that distracted driving isn’t just an annoyance for drivers, its breaking the law.

“It’s not just an annoying thing that you see when you’re out on the road,” he said. “On the phone beside you, paying more attention to the sloppy burger, the pet on their lap, or the kid in the back seat than the road in front of them. It’s not just an annoyance, it’s actually a significant traffic concern.”

Statistically, the police report back to SGI the number of offenses each month, McMurchy said. He said each month, around 450 to 700 offences are reported for distracted driving.

“It’s the number two contributing factor in fatal collisions in Saskatchewan,” he said. “It is the number one cause of collisions overall and number one cause of injuries overall. Last year, we saw more than 6,000 collisions in which distracted driving was a factor, it resulted in the death of 26 people and more than 950 people injured.”

Distracted driving is a fineable offence, which will give the culprit a $280 fine, along with four demerits on their license. There are two different types of distracted driving laws, McMurchy added.

“There’s the cell phone law, which says you cannot hold, use, manipulate or view a hand held electronics device while you’re operating a motor vehicle,” he said. “That includes if you’re at a red light, so leave that phone alone. There’s also driving without due care and reasonable consideration.”

McMurchy said the big push for SGI in launching the program is getting people to not have to pay the fine, get hit with the demerit points, and just drive safely and alertly.

“We want to help people avoid getting that $280 ticket,” he said. “We really advise them to leave the phone alone. Put your cell phone on do not disturb or airplane mode while driving. Make your drive time, quiet time. Enjoy the drive time itself, don’t worry about your texts, or trying to respond to emails or calling somebody, enjoy the drive. Just drive.”

In the case that there is something imminent on your device, there is other things that you can do to avoid getting the fine, and McMurchy said it’s quite simple.

“If you need to do something that involves your phone,” he said. “Ask your passenger to handle answering any messages, or pull over to the side where it’s safe, and handle your business and then continue on your way, undistracted.”

It’s not just your cell phone that can distract you. There is a whole list of different actions that can cause you to be hit with the driving without due care and reasonable consideration offence. It all comes back to putting more focus on keeping your eyes on the road, McMurchy said.

“You’re going to want to avoid other distractions,” he said. “Don’t have the music too loud, don’t fiddle with your GPS, and don’t pay more attention to your passengers or your pets than you are to the road in front of you. It only takes a split second for something to go wrong.”

When it comes to catching distracted drivers, McMurchy said that the police forces will be out, and they may focus on different strategies to catch those who aren’t abiding by the laws. They’re new tactics and ways to keep Saskatchewan roads safe.

“We’ve seen some very creative efforts from police as of late who are looking to catch distracted drivers in the act,” he said. “That includes unmarked vehicles, plain clothed officers on the sidewalk observing cars going by and radioing ahead to another officer to issue that ticket. You may also see an officer stationed at an elevated vantage point overlooking a busy thoroughfare. We’ve seen all this used by Saskatchewan police around this province.”

 

brady.lang@jpbg.ca

Twitter: @BradyLangCJNB