Sign licence and promise to never text or drink and drive
Distracted driving is now the No. 1 killer of people in and by automobiles.
We have a truck as our daily driver and this allows my wife to look down at people we’re passing. This is how the conversation often goes:
“He’s texting. No wonder he’s going so slowly in the middle lane. I can’t believe how selfish some people can be.”
Or, we can be waiting in a longline of cars and trucks to make a left turn in rush hour and the green arrow comes on and ... nothing.
Finally, somebody leans on the horn and the driver of the first car in line suddenly realizes he (or she) is supposed to be moving.
But that means only half the number of cars get to turn during the advance and it’s about then that I say something really profound: “I don’t believe in capital punishment but I think I could make an exception in the case of distracted drivers.”
Actually, I have been known to say the same thing when I see in the paper — the Star, naturally — that there was a crash on Lake Shore Blvd. overnight and the police say that speed and alcohol likely played a part.
What? Alcohol “played a part?” It’s 2018 and I’m sick and tired of law-enforcement personnel and reporters having to play something so down the middle that it is meaningless.
You know, lines like: “The car was in collision with...” How about, “Police said the driver was drunk.” Does anybody really think, in this day and age, that somebody accused of drinking and driving is going to beat the rap because TV or radio or the newspapers re- ported they were hammered when they dropped their cigarette while going 100 km/h on a city street and by the time they looked up after trying to find it they were two feet away from crashing head-on into a tree?
Give courts and judges some credit. “I can’t get a fair trial because the paper said I was drunk.” Give me a break. One time when I was a young cub reporter, I was covering court and a guy came in and said to the magistrate, whose name was Black, “They spelled my name wrong on this ticket so I don’t have to pay.” Magis- trate Black looked at the guy and said, “Really? Let me see that.” So the guy gave the ticket to the magistrate, who looked at it and said, “What’s the matter?” And the guy said, “My name is Greene with an ‘e’ on the end and it’s on that ticket that my name is Green.” So Magistrate Black takes out his pen and puts and ‘e’ on the end of the guy’s name. “There,” he said. “It’s spelled correctly now. You’re still guilty. That will be $35 or one night in jail. You can pay over there or the bailiff will take you to the cells.
Your choice, Mr. Greene.” But I digress. Distracted driving — according to the statistics — is now the No. 1 killer of people in and by automobiles followed by impaired driving. After years and years of public service messages and Christmas spot checks and public-relations campaigns led by organizations like MADD, the message is clearly not getting through.
In the last two weeks, I read reports in the paper about a guy who killed four people — three of them children — and injured several others as a result of being drunk and crashing into them. He has to stay in jail awhile longer but they will eventually have to let him out. He told the parole board that he doesn’t think he has a problem with booze. I wonder what all the people who regularly attend Alcohol Anonymous meetings thought about that? Two words: time bomb.
And then there was the horrible crash in Mississauga and a mother and her 2-year-old son are dead and the police said that “alcohol was likely a factor.” To repeat: this isn’t working. People drink and drive and figure the odds are in their favour of getting away with it. Ditto with texting and driving, which you see people doing all the time. I have a suggestion. I had to renew my driver’s licence a few weeks ago, so I had it out of my wallet and was looking at it. There’s a lot of stuff on the front, but not much on the back. Which means there’s room.
I think, when you get a driver’s licence, or have to renew it, that you should take personal responsibility for what you do on the road.
I know there are laws, but the laws aren’t working, so think about this.
On the back of the driver’s licence, it should say:
“By signing this licence, I pledge to treat my fellow motorists with respect and to obey the rules of the road. In particular, I pledge never to drink and drive, to drug and drive and to text (or do anything else with my phone) that will distract me while I am driving.”
You should have to sign that declaration in front of the Service Ontario employee who issues you the licence and they can witness it by writing down a number given to them for such purposes by their employer, the government of Ontario.
That would mean that no longer would you be “breaking the law” by texting or drinking while behind the wheel. By signing that licence and agreeing to the conditions, you would be breaking a promise not only to yourself but to society as a whole.
When the police officer pulls you over for a Christmas spot check, it will no longer be, “You have broken the law, sir, by drinking and driving,” it will be, “How could you? You promised! I’m taking away your licence and it’s going to take you a long time to get it back because you can’t be trusted.”
Personal responsibility. I think it’s worth a shot, don’t you? Sign your licence and promise not to be bad.
What a concept.