Police give fewer tickets for distracted driving last month
Police across the province wrote 534 distracted-driving tickets in December, the lowest monthly total for all of 2019.
SGI said 408 of those tickets were for cellphone use while driving.
On average police wrote 900 distracted-driving tickets a month from January to October last year. Police set a record in October, writing 1,290 tickets.
The dip in numbers comes before harsher penalties for the offence take effect Feb. 1. “It’s too soon to draw any conclusions about what this means, but hopefully it’s the start of a trend,” Tyler Mcmurchy, manager media relations with SGI, said in a news release.
According to the Crown corporation a distracted-driving ticket carries a $280 fine and four demerit points, and the possibility of vehicle seizures for repeat offences. Next month the fine for the same ticket goes to $580, with four demerits.
A second offence in the same year will run drivers $1,400, four more demerit points and an immediate seven-day vehicle seizure, with the offender paying for the towing. A third offence within a year of conviction of the first offence will result in a $2,100 ticket, plus four more demerits — for a total of 12 — and another seven-day vehicle seizure.
In December police in the province reported 295 impaired-driving offences, including 249 criminal charges. Impaired driving is the leading cause of death on Saskatchewan roads.
In December, police in Saskatchewan also handed out 4,722 tickets for speeding/aggressive driving and 309 tickets for improper seatbelt or child restraint use.