Motorists get distracted driving message
The hard data isn’t in yet, but it seems Niagara motorists are starting to get the message about dangers of distracted driving.
Niagara Regional Police Staff Sgt. Romolo DiEgidio of the traffic unit said the number of times an investigating officer will cite distracted driving as a cause of collisions is falling.
“If you look back at 2016, that was when we saw the real spike. That year, the number of MVC (motor vehicle collisions) that distracted driving was considered a cause was 20 per cent (of total collisions.) We investigate 7,000 to 8,000 collisions a year,” DiEgidio said.
“Now, it’s early yet and so I cannot come to many conclusions, but I looked at the data for this year so far, and we’ve investigated 1,500 MVCs, and distracted driving is down to 10 per cent.”
DiEgidio said increased penalties, including hefty fines, and public information campaigns appear to be getting through to drivers. He believes, over time, using a cellphone while behind the wheel will be regarded with the same concern and disdain by the general public as impaired driving.
“If you look at the attitudes toward impaired driving 40 or 50 years ago, they are totally different than they are today,” he said. “I think that is where we are headed.”
Nevertheless, distracted driving remains a concern among police and health officials. Ac-
cording to CAA Niagara, a driver is 23 times more likely to get into a collision when texting and driving and that remains a leading cause of death for people aged 15 to 44.
The next comprehensive review of Niagara’s habit of driving while texting will begin in the spring, said Sinead McElhone, surveillance and evaluation manager at Niagara Region.
The spring study is modelled after a 2016 audit of Niagara drivers, McElhone said. That year the Region conducted a study of more than 3,000 vehicles in Niagara. Auxiliary officers from the NRP and Ontario Provincial Police were sent out in teams to watch the behaviour of drivers.
They found Niagara drivers are twice as likely to pick up their phones while at a red light than a stop sign, using the momentary break in driving to check messages or social media feeds.
However, Alex Pederson from CAA Niagara, said research shows it can take up to 27 seconds for a person to engage with another task after using their phones. That means a driver can be headed into an intersection without being fully aware of their surroundings.
McElhone said the new audit will begin in the spring and will take several months to complete.