OPP cracking down on distracted drivers

Fines for distracted driving are about to go up in Ontario.

By Morgan Davy

BELLEVILLE – Irresponsible Ontario drivers will have to pay the price for distracted driving.

The Ontario Provincial Police launched a campaign on March 8 to crack down on drivers who put others at risk on the road by being distracted while driving. And on March 18, the fine for distracted driving will go up from $150 to $280.

In 2013, 78 people died in Ontario in distracted-driving-related accidents – surpassing the number of impaired-driving and speed-related fatalities.

Sgt. Dave Woodford of the OPP’s highway-safety division says the crackdown is an awareness, education and enforcement campaign. It’s about more than just cell phones, he said.

“It could be coffee. We see people putting makeup on. Next thing you know we get calls where vehicles are weaving from one lane to another lane. A lot of calls come in regarding a possible impaired driver and we find that they’re doing something else in their vehicle while driving.”

Distracted motorists could also face careless-driving charges. This more serious offence often results in six demerit points, higher insurance costs and a fine of up to $1,000. There is also the possibility of a licence suspension.

In the first two days of the campaign, 415 charges were laid by the OPP, seven of them for careless driving. In the OPP’s East Region (from Quinte West to the Quebec border and north to Algonquin Park), 84 motorists were charged with distracted driving.

Woodford compared using cellphones while driving to smoking cigarettes, saying it has become a habit.

“Even though there are warnings out from (Health Canada) about what cigarette smoke does to your health, there’s all kind of warnings, but people are still doing it. It becomes a habit you have to break. Unfortunately what happened here is cellphones became very popular. Everybody got them and it became habit to use them. Now we’re telling people they’re causing deaths and it’s become a matter of breaking that habit.”

The campaign will run until March 14, but Woodford stressed that the initiative should be in motorists’ minds at all times.

“I just think people have to be responsible and stay focused on their driving and not on other things.”