Drivers still not getting the message that using cellphones behind the wheel is unsafe got a rude awakening this week when Burnaby RCMP conducted a enforcement blitz cracking down on the dangerous habit.
Volunteers with the RCMP’s Cell Watch program, which goes out into the community each month to record the number of drivers using phones behind the wheel, joined officers near Metrotown on Tuesday morning, reminding drivers to leave their phones alone.
Volunteers in bright florescent jackets were stationed on Willingdon Avenue near Kinsgway with large signs asking drivers to put their phones away. Despite the visible warning, Mounties stationed a short distance away, ticketed 30 people for using cellphones while driving during the one-and-a-half hour blitz.
According to Burnaby RCMP Staff Sgt. Maj. John Buis, distracted driving is comparable to impaired driving. At one time, having a few drinks and driving home was a common occurrence. As more research was conducted and evidence was published, drinking and driving was revealed to be a reckless decision, which often carried with it severe and fatal consequences.
It appears that distracted driving is destined to follow in the footsteps of impaired driving, and what’s most needed right now is education, Buis said.
“It’s really unfortunate that we see this many people texting and using their cellphone; however, I think with increased education, followed by some enforcement, people will get the message,” he added.
Throughout the month of March, Cell Watch volunteers checked 24,448 cars for distracted driving. Of those cars checked, 65 drivers were talking on cellphones and another 93 were observed texting behind the wheel.
“There’s always the enforcement, but this is the education portion of it,” Buis said.
For the Brentwood and Hastings Street area, referred to as District 1 by RCMP, part of the education component includes sending letters to drivers observed using their cellphones while driving. These letters serve as a warning to the registered owner of the vehicle that whoever was driving the vehicle at the time was caught using an electronic device.
The Burnaby RCMP is hoping to expand the letter-writing program to all areas of the city.
According to ICBC, between 2009 and 2013, one quarter of all car crash fatalities in the province were connected to distracted driving – which averages out to 88 deaths per year
“You’re four times more likely to crash if you’re on your phone, and distracted driving is the second-leading cause of car crash fatalities in British Columbia and it only follows impaired driving,” Buis added.
