School zone no place for driving distracted: RNC
Police cracking down on illegal use of hand-held cellular devices
Inside your vehicle, it may seem innocent enough.
You’ve just dropped your kids off in front of their school and waved goodbye, and you begin to drive away.
Even before you are off school property, you pull out your cellphone to call or text work that you are on your way, or a friend you are meeting for coffee.
Meanwhile, other children are walking by, and other vehicles are moving. Being distracted while driving greatly increases the risk of an accident, and using hand-held cellular devices in this way is illegal.
When the principal and staff of Holy Family School in Paradise noticed an increase in distracted driving near the school, they feared for students’ safety and contacted the RNC for help.
On Wednesday morning during student dropoff time, the RNC conducted an operation that saw Const. Karen Didham pose in plain clothes as a crossing guard near the school. Other officers were nearby in unmarked police vehicles.
In all, four drivers were ticketed for illegally using hand-held cellphones, just after dropping off children.
“There were several things we were looking for in this operation. Primarily it was the usage of cellphones, hand-held devices, while people were operating their vehicles,” Didham said.
“There were also some concerns with relation to children crossing at the crosswalk and (drivers) not paying heed to the road signs and the stipulations the school has set up in order to drop children off safely.
“And, obviously, the school is supposed to be a safe place for children to attend and when we are distracted and we are driving, we are putting our children in jeopardy.”
The effort Wednesday was part of what is termed Operation Ringtone — something the RNC began about two months ago. The operation, thus far, has resulted in more than 600 tickets being issued specifically for the use of hand-held cellular devices.
Under the Highway Traffic Act, distracted driving offences result in the loss of four demerit points and fines of $100 or more.
Didham said police hope the motoring public will learn from the police effort that the RNC is taking the issue of distracted driving seriously. Distracted driving puts students, pedestrians and the motoring public at risk.
“We are using some very interesting and inventive ways in order to catch people doing this,” Didham said. “We’ve had members set up in construction zones in conjunction with the towns and cities. So, we are being innovative in coming up with ways to try to catch people who are breaching this law.”
Didham also noted there are misconceptions in the public about what is or is not legal in relation to the use of hand-held cellphones in a vehicle.
“People using the phone in the speaker mode, but still holding it, is a breach of the Highway Traffic Act. You are not allowed to use a hand-held device while you are operating your vehicle. You are not allowed to make a phone call while driving and then put it in speaker mode and you are not allowed to use your texting,” she said. “If you have it on speaker phone (the call made before driving) or have blue tooth, then it’s not illegal.
“Texting while driving is becoming a big issue. What we are finding is that people are trying to hide the fact they are texting, and they are texting with their phone down by the centre console of the vehicle, which requires even more distraction because they have to take their eyes off the roadway in order to look down to see their texting.”