Not Everyone Was Paying Attention Driving In March

Submitted by SGI

Last month, SGI and law enforcement asked the drivers of Saskatchewan to keep their heads out of their apps and their eyes on the road. Did drivers get the message? 

Not all of them.  

·         592 drivers were too distracted by the latest notification on their device, because law enforcement issued that many tickets for holding or using cell phones while driving.  

·          An additional 93 tickets were issued for driving without due care and attention.  

Many of us have had plenty of time over the last year to watch everything on Netflix, scroll through everyone on Tinder, and try and find the bottom of our Tik Tok feeds. When you’re behind the wheel, focus on one thing and one thing only: driving! 

Because if you don’t, there could be a $580 ticket (and four demerit points) with your name on it, with escalating fines and weeklong vehicle impoundments for repeat offences. Even more serious, you could cause a collision, wreck your vehicle, get seriously hurt, or injure or kill someone else, all because your friend updated their Instagram story. Preliminary statistics from 2020 tell us driver distraction or inattention contributed to more than 3,000 collisions last year, resulting in approximately 600 injuries and 22 deaths. 

So turn off notifications, put your phone where you won’t be tempted by it, get ready and set your music and GPS before hitting the road, and make sure you’re well-rested before getting behind the wheel (or stop and rest if you are feeling tired).  

Police also reported the following results for the other Big Four traffic safety categories last month: 

·         358 impaired driving offences, including 244 Criminal Code charges 

·         576 tickets for improper seatbelt or child restraint use 

·         6,846 tickets for speeding/aggressive driving 

SGI and law enforcement continue to encourage drivers to #SlowDown with the April focus on speeding, pedestrians, cyclists, motorcyclists, and ATVs. Find SGI on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for more information.