Wiser but poorer, texters get a message from the RCMP: Pay full attention while driving
By Nelson Daily Staff
By Suzy Hamilton, The Nelson Daily
Police are hoping there are a few smarter drivers out there after their month long campaign to nab distracted drivers and unbelted auto travelers.
“In the month of February, the West Kootenay IRSU & Traffic Services issued 55 violations for distracted driving and 177 seat belt violations throughout the West Kootenay area,” said Sgt. Derrick Donovan of the West Kootenay Traffic Unit.
“We are seeing a decrease in drivers on cell phones but texting is increasing. And it’s all ages.”
Donovan said another 100 drivers were pulled over for suspected violations. “ A lot of times, we’re not 100 percent sure,” he said.
A low speed was an indicator that the driver was texting in his or her lap, he said. But now police are finding that drivers are maintaining highway speeds and texting at the same time.
One driver, he said, was texting coming off the highway and not even looking at the officers on the road.
“It’s hard to prove that distracted driving means collisions,” he said. “But it only takes a couple seconds to go over the centre line.”
Donovan said that education is key. “We have a ways to go,” he said. “We’re hoping that people are spreading the word to their peers.
“It took a few years for seatbelts,” he noted.
But although many now wear their seatbelts, according to BC Coroner’s statistics for the Interior in 2010, 41 percent of the people who died were not wearing their seatbelts.
“A person can be ejected in a vehicle going over 25 km,” said Donovan. “There’s no excuse for not wearing a seatbelt.
The RCMP targeted distracted and unbuckled drivers in February as part of an educational campaign to increase safety on the roads by changing driving habits.
