Texters, inebriated still behind the wheel
There are two resolutions that may be easily made and just as easily kept. Lives could depend on those resolutions.
Number 1: Don’t drink and drive.
Number 2: Don’t text/use cellphones while driving.
Both resolutions make sense to most people but it is not the sensible people who cause the concern with motor club officials and law enforcement agencies. One has only to read the police reports to know that progress is slower than desired in eradicating both offences.
We’ve known for years that drunks who drive cause accidents, take lives and put themselves and their families’ economic livelihood at risk.
Television advertisements show the graphic details, and in recent productions, have taken a lower-key but effective approach to the message: showing happy families or groups of friends, then quietly removing one person from the photo — gone because someone else drank and then drove. A quiet but heart-wrenching and solemn capsule of how quickly a life is taken.
When the province brought in legislation to quell the use of hand-held cellphones while operating a motor vehicle the hope was that users would follow the law and disconnect for the length of the journey. Some drivers obeyed, others did not and still have not, despite the $280 fine that awaits them if caught. Money does not appear to be enough of a deterrent.
In fact, the habit of keeping in touch via texting seems to be just as prevalent as regular use of cellphones. There is a definite concern among non-texters that there is a danger on the roads because of drivers who are all-consumed with technology.
A recent survey of 2,000 drivers on the Prairies by CAA suggests 94 per cent think texting and driving is still a problem, and to another question, 84 per cent responded by saying they think texting while driving is worse than it was three years ago.
According to the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute, checking for a text for five seconds means that at 90 km/h, a driver would have travelled the length of a football field while blindfolded.
The National Safety Council estimates drivers who text fail to see up to 50 per cent of what is happening in their driving environment.
It is unlikely that many of the guilty will pay attention to these statistics and continued warnings, thinking they won’t get caught, or worse, not much caring if they do. Hopefully there will be enough texting drivers who will wait until they reach their destinations before they glance at their tiny screen. For those who don’t wait, there’s a fine in their future — and worse — the possibility of an accident and even injury or death. Think about it.
Joyce Walter can be reached at ronjoy@sasktel.net