It's time to put that phone down
Shortly after 6 p.m. on June 3,
2009, Kathryn Field got a phone
call. She was expecting it to be her
son Josh, telling her he was with
friends and that he’d be home later.
But it was a London Police Services officer. Josh had been in an accident – he’d pull out his mobile phone while driving, and seconds later, the vehicle was in the ditch. Josh never made it home.
LPS issued 56 offence notices during a one-day blitz on distracted drivers called Buckle Up, Phone Down on November 24. The event was part of the London Road Safety Strategy, whose goal is to reduce fatal and injury collisions in the area by 10 per cent by 2019.
Police issued 56 offence notices that day.
“Distracted driving can be anything that takes your attention away from the task at hand, which is driving,” said Traffic Management Unit Sgt. Amanda Pfeffer.
Examples include using mobile phones, GPS devices, eating and reading while driving.
“Your attention should be focused on the roadway at all times,” she said.
One in three students between Grade 10 and 12 admitted to using their phones while driving, Pfeffer said.
“This is a very concerning statistic in that those individuals are also our most inexperienced drivers,” she said.
Drivers who text while driving are 23 times more likely to be in a collision than those who don’t, according to a pamphlet for the event. Last year, distracted driving caused 78 deaths in Ontario.
The Ontario government introduced legislation in 2009 that banned the use of hand-held devices while driving. Fines range from $60 to $500.
A proposed legislation by the Ontario government plans to increase fines for distracted driving to between $300 and $1,000. If convicted, distracted drivers would also lose three demerit points.
“If Josh had more knowledge about the outcome of answering that cell phone, maybe he wouldn’t have,” Kathryn said in a video posted on the London Health Sciences Centre website about distracted driving,
“Maybe he would’ve just left it. So, for us to try and promote distracted driving awareness and to make sure that somebody doesn’t go do the same thing – doesn’t try and answer that phone – if it would save just one person’s life then it’s worth it to us.”
But it was a London Police Services officer. Josh had been in an accident – he’d pull out his mobile phone while driving, and seconds later, the vehicle was in the ditch. Josh never made it home.
LPS issued 56 offence notices during a one-day blitz on distracted drivers called Buckle Up, Phone Down on November 24. The event was part of the London Road Safety Strategy, whose goal is to reduce fatal and injury collisions in the area by 10 per cent by 2019.
Police issued 56 offence notices that day.
“Distracted driving can be anything that takes your attention away from the task at hand, which is driving,” said Traffic Management Unit Sgt. Amanda Pfeffer.
Examples include using mobile phones, GPS devices, eating and reading while driving.
“Your attention should be focused on the roadway at all times,” she said.
One in three students between Grade 10 and 12 admitted to using their phones while driving, Pfeffer said.
“This is a very concerning statistic in that those individuals are also our most inexperienced drivers,” she said.
Drivers who text while driving are 23 times more likely to be in a collision than those who don’t, according to a pamphlet for the event. Last year, distracted driving caused 78 deaths in Ontario.
The Ontario government introduced legislation in 2009 that banned the use of hand-held devices while driving. Fines range from $60 to $500.
A proposed legislation by the Ontario government plans to increase fines for distracted driving to between $300 and $1,000. If convicted, distracted drivers would also lose three demerit points.
“If Josh had more knowledge about the outcome of answering that cell phone, maybe he wouldn’t have,” Kathryn said in a video posted on the London Health Sciences Centre website about distracted driving,
“Maybe he would’ve just left it. So, for us to try and promote distracted driving awareness and to make sure that somebody doesn’t go do the same thing – doesn’t try and answer that phone – if it would save just one person’s life then it’s worth it to us.”
