Alberta drivers have a bad habit

April is Distracted Driving Month and Albertans have a long way to go to decrease this deadly habit.

Albertans are the most distracted drivers in the country, with 90 per cent admitting to engaging in distracted driving behaviours while behind the wheel, according to the fourth annual distracted driving report* from RATESDOTCA. According to the CAA, using mobile phones alone while driving leads to 1.6 million accidents across the country a year.

Key findings:

• Eighty-three per cent of Canadian drivers engage in at least one distracted driving behaviour mentioned in the study, including activities like texting or instant-messaging on a hand-held device (23 per cent), make phone calls on a hand-held device (44 per cent) and eating while driving (74 per cent);

• Distracted driving behaviors Albertans admit to engaging in include: texting or instant-messaging on a hand-held device (13 per cent); make phone calls on a hand-held device (19 per cent); eating while driving (77 per cent);

• Fifty-eight per cent of Albertans engage in technology-related distraction, such as texting, while behind the wheel, a chargeable offence under Alberta’s distracted driving laws

• Alberta accounted for the highest levels of distracted driving at 90 per cent and Quebec the lowest at 73 per cent;

• Fifty-eight per cent of Canadians believe distracted driving is a bigger cause of traffic deaths than impaired driving, yet engage in it anyway, up from 47 per cent in 2021 and 40 per cent in 2020.

Not only does a distracted driving conviction mean a potential fine and licence cancellation, it can also mean higher auto insurance premiums.

“Auto insurance providers base premiums on an assortment of risk factors including a consumer’s driving record. Distracted driving is risky and increases the chance that a driver can get into a fatal accident,” says Tanisha Kishan, RATESDOTCA expert and chartered insurance professional. “Getting a distracted driving ticket will therefore lead to higher premiums to cover that risk.”

Distracted driving will affect auto insurance premiums differently from province to province. The penalties for distracted driving in Alberta include a $300 fine and three demerit points.

According to RATESDOTCA’s online auto insurance quoter, in Alberta, a 30-year-old male driver living in downtown Calgary with a clean driving record paying $2,474 annually had their lowest rate increase by 18 per cent, to $2,929 a year.