Distracted driving not tolerated in Windsor

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

By Sean Previl

Local police are implementing a new initiative to combat distracted driving.

The Windsor Police Service released a report Oct. 2 informing Windsor of new rules regarding distracted driving with a focus on cell phone usage.

Matt D’Asti, public information officer with the WPS, said this new plan will assist police in catching more offenders.

“Before, this type of charge was very hard to prosecute because many justices felt that there may be a fact or issue with being able to prove that the communication device was in use or in operation,” said D’Asti. “Recent case law in the Court of Appeal has ruled that a person needs only be holding the device in their hand in order for police to lay a charge.”

Adam El-Baba, a media convergence student at St. Clair College, said his concern is whether or not an officer can see the phone.

“It’s harder to enforce because the officer has to have that direct line of sight of you on it, which means that officer also has to distract themselves from their driving,” said El-Baba. “It’s definitely a very ambitious law to try and tackle.”

D’Asti said police have been trained to avoid distracted driving of their own.

“It’s part of their duties to drive a vehicle while patrolling and being observant,” said D’Asti.

David Budzarov of Eagen Insurance said an issue with distracted driving charges is many people their insurance won’t be affected since no demerit points are issued.

“With insurance that’s not the case, (insurance companies) look to see what the severity of the ticket is, whether it’s a minor, major or criminal offense,” said  Budzarov. “So operating a handheld device is considered a minor, which means no points but it’s a minor ticket so you get surcharged for it.”

Budzarov said the average charge to a person’s insurance for inattentive driving is $300.

According to a road safety report published by the City of Windsor in 2012 34.1 per cent of collisions in the city involved driver inattention.

D’Asti said drivers should be careful about inattentive driving because the results are something no one wants to live with.

“It only takes one second of looking away and the next thing you know you could be responsible for causing a fatal motor vehicle accident.”