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EDITORIAL: Distracted driving kills

Texting, or talking on a handset pressed up against your ear, while driving is unsafe and illegal. That’s not new. Ontario’s distracted driving laws have been in place since 2009, and its penalties may stiffen for a second time.

Texting, or talking on a handset pressed up against your ear, while driving is unsafe and illegal.

That’s not new. Ontario’s distracted driving laws have been in place since 2009, and its penalties may stiffen for a second time. Distracted drivers may face fines of up to $1,000 and three demerit points.

There’s good reason to give this law more teeth. The OPP has named distracted driving the No. 1 killer on our roadways, taking the place of both speeding and impaired driving.  But while the dangers of distracted driving are known, the act has so far avoided the same taboo that surrounds the impaired driver.

It isn’t rare to see a driver chatting on a phone while making a left turn, or giving half their attention to the Expressway so they can respond to a text or email.

Stiffer penalties should encourage these motorists to drop the phone when they spot the police cruiser, but what about when no cruiser in sight?

That’s when it’s up to us, the average citizen, to start expressing our disgust for distracted driving. Now, most of us treat the texting driver the same way we would a late signal – with an eye roll.

We wouldn’t allow a friend or relative to take the keys when they’re clearly impaired. We care too much about them to let them make a potentially fatal mistake.

So let’s care about our friends and loved ones who have no problem picking up the phone, or responding to that text, while driving. Show them you care by giving more than an eye roll





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