As the countdown to Alberta’s distracted driving legislation begins, efforts have been ramped up to alert the driving public about the dangerous habits many take for granted.
Alberta legislators are hoping to make the province’s roads safer this summer with the enactment of Bill 16.
The proposed fine for the new offence will be $172 (no demerits will be given).
The law restricts the use of hand-held cellphones, texting or emailing, using laptop computers, video games, cameras, and programming portable audio players while driving.
The new law also covers entering information into GPS units, reading printed material in the vehicle and personal grooming — pretty much anything that would require you to take your hands off the wheel while driving.
Bill 16 applies to all vehicles as defined by the Traffic Safety Act, including bicycles.
“We’ve been after drunk drivers for 40 years, and it’s just now that the campaign is going to be focused on texting and distracted driving,” said Barry Fizer, a certified driving instructor who spoke on behalf of the Alberta Motor Association at Red Deer’s No Phone Zone Day event recently.
Fizer said independent statistics indicate nearly 25 per cent of vehicular collisions resulting in death in Alberta are caused by distracted driving — averaging 100 deaths per year. Bill 16 is the first big step Alberta is making to combat the serious issue.
“They’ve gotten to the point in Ontario, where if you’re involved in a serious accident, (police) can actually go through your cellphone records and give you a careless driving charge if your phone was on at the time of the crash,” Fizer said.
Fizer and representatives from the RCMP were on hand at the event held at the local Acura dealership to answer questions about the new distracted driving law, and visitors were encouraged to sign No Phone Zone pledges — written promises to not use phones while driving.
The idea to organize the event came from Acura of Red Deer’s staff. The dealership’s human resources manager was rear-ended on her way home from work in 2009.
“It sounded like I’d been hit by a train; he pushed me across three lanes,” said Pamela Skakun.
The 19-year-old driver who smashed into Skakun at a stop light near Westerner Park was speeding and attempting to send a text.
“He admitted it to the tow truck driver,” Skakun said.
Police charged the young driver with careless driving.
Skakun received only minor injuries (which she credits to wearing her seatbelt and her car’s side-impact air bags deploying). She hopes the young man learned a lesson.
“He was in worse shape than I was.”
Skakun said the new distracted driving law is a step in the right direction, but even two years after the collision, she’s developed a bit of a nervous tick for trying to spot reckless drivers.
“I’m constantly looking in the rear-view mirror now. I thought I was safe being parked at a stop light but you never know what people are doing behind the wheel these days.”
Legislation banning the use of hand-held phones while driving exists in eight Canadian provinces — with Saskatchewan boasting the stiffest penalties ($280 and four demerits per offence).
syoung@www.reddeeradvocate.com