Teh One Who Knocks
02-02-2012, 11:30 PM
By Michael Platt ,Calgary Sun
http://i.imgur.com/t2V2q.jpg
We’ve changed our driving habits alright — unfortunately, for many a multi-tasking motorist, the change has been for the worst.
It’s scary enough that Calgary police, without trying very hard, can write 1,456 tickets in the first four months since distracted driving legislation become provincial law.
That’s 1,456 people still juggling behind the wheel, generally with a phone, but sometimes with food, make-up or in one case, a straight razor and shaving bowl.
“Shaving cream, blade, and a bowl full of water,” said Calgary police traffic education officer Mike Hagen.
“It makes you cringe to think what would have happened if he’d hit a bump.”
Not as much as you’ll cringe when you hear Const. Hagen assess road habits since messing with phones officially became illegal last Sept. 1.
Some drivers totally get it — and hallelujah for the law abiding few.
But others are trying to be sneaky as they text friends or dial from the driver’s seat, hiding the evidence below the dash or window line.
And where phone goes, eyes tend to follow.
“I think it’s even more dangerous than before, because now you’ve got the phone in a place where you’ve never had it before,” said Hagen.
“Now your eyes are off the road for longer than before.”
That’s a scary thought, when you consider the risk drivers take with their eyes off the road for long seconds at a time.
As recently as Saturday, a 17-year-old from St. Albert was charged with distracted driving after she struck a pedestrian, allegedly while texting on her cellphone.
RCMP in the town near Edmonton say the teen hit the 27-year-old man in a marked crosswalk, breaking his leg.
Carnage has been mercifully mild here in Calgary, with Hagen pressed to think of a recent serious crash where distracted driving was to blame.
That’s not to say police aren’t checking: Hagen says with every major collision, cell phone records are checked to ensure distracted driving was not a factor.
“When there is a collision that’s serious in nature, that’s part of the investigation, to get a warrant for cell phone records,” said Hagen.
But what police can’t know is how many minor metal-on-metal meetings were caused by someone on a phone or applying a coat of lipstick.
With police no longer attending fender benders in Calgary, there’s no way to properly assess blame for the vast majority of crunches.
But to judge by other Canadian provinces, distracted driving must be a major factor.
A recent study by police in British Columbia determined distracted driving was a contributing factor in 32% of crash deaths, while Saskatchewan recorded 8,500 distracted driving collisions in 2010.
Phones and other distractions have certainly claimed lives in Alberta in the past — including an August 2010 crash that killed Michael and Merin Melnyk on Hwy. 8, just west of Calgary.
It’ll never be known why the Melnyk’s Mercedes, also carrying their seven-week-old daughter Ysa, crossed over the centre line into oncoming traffic, but police blamed distracted driving.
“Distracted driving does concern me — your brain is trying to concentrate on the phone as well as the road, and it doesn’t work,” said Garry Melnyk, Michael’s father and grandfather to the only survivor.
“You can drive a long distance and then you realize you don’t remember things you’ve passed.”
Melnyk personally believes his son may have fallen asleep, though an infant in the back seat could have been a distraction. Either way, he believes Albertans need to understand the risks.
“We need more education, and we need more police too,” said Melnyk.
“I was just in Calgary, and there was girl not driving very straight — as I passed, it was obvious she was texting.”
It’s a story any Calgary driver can relate to, but despite easy pickings for police armed with a $172 fine, Hagen says there’s no plan for a concerted crackdown.
Instead, there’ll be a renewed awareness campaign, and for those too distracted to notice the officer in their mirror, more tickets.
“I’ve stepped out of my police car, walked right up between the traffic, and knocked on their window — it scares the daylights out of them,” said Hagen.
Not as much as their distracted driving is scaring the daylights out of Calgary.
http://i.imgur.com/t2V2q.jpg
We’ve changed our driving habits alright — unfortunately, for many a multi-tasking motorist, the change has been for the worst.
It’s scary enough that Calgary police, without trying very hard, can write 1,456 tickets in the first four months since distracted driving legislation become provincial law.
That’s 1,456 people still juggling behind the wheel, generally with a phone, but sometimes with food, make-up or in one case, a straight razor and shaving bowl.
“Shaving cream, blade, and a bowl full of water,” said Calgary police traffic education officer Mike Hagen.
“It makes you cringe to think what would have happened if he’d hit a bump.”
Not as much as you’ll cringe when you hear Const. Hagen assess road habits since messing with phones officially became illegal last Sept. 1.
Some drivers totally get it — and hallelujah for the law abiding few.
But others are trying to be sneaky as they text friends or dial from the driver’s seat, hiding the evidence below the dash or window line.
And where phone goes, eyes tend to follow.
“I think it’s even more dangerous than before, because now you’ve got the phone in a place where you’ve never had it before,” said Hagen.
“Now your eyes are off the road for longer than before.”
That’s a scary thought, when you consider the risk drivers take with their eyes off the road for long seconds at a time.
As recently as Saturday, a 17-year-old from St. Albert was charged with distracted driving after she struck a pedestrian, allegedly while texting on her cellphone.
RCMP in the town near Edmonton say the teen hit the 27-year-old man in a marked crosswalk, breaking his leg.
Carnage has been mercifully mild here in Calgary, with Hagen pressed to think of a recent serious crash where distracted driving was to blame.
That’s not to say police aren’t checking: Hagen says with every major collision, cell phone records are checked to ensure distracted driving was not a factor.
“When there is a collision that’s serious in nature, that’s part of the investigation, to get a warrant for cell phone records,” said Hagen.
But what police can’t know is how many minor metal-on-metal meetings were caused by someone on a phone or applying a coat of lipstick.
With police no longer attending fender benders in Calgary, there’s no way to properly assess blame for the vast majority of crunches.
But to judge by other Canadian provinces, distracted driving must be a major factor.
A recent study by police in British Columbia determined distracted driving was a contributing factor in 32% of crash deaths, while Saskatchewan recorded 8,500 distracted driving collisions in 2010.
Phones and other distractions have certainly claimed lives in Alberta in the past — including an August 2010 crash that killed Michael and Merin Melnyk on Hwy. 8, just west of Calgary.
It’ll never be known why the Melnyk’s Mercedes, also carrying their seven-week-old daughter Ysa, crossed over the centre line into oncoming traffic, but police blamed distracted driving.
“Distracted driving does concern me — your brain is trying to concentrate on the phone as well as the road, and it doesn’t work,” said Garry Melnyk, Michael’s father and grandfather to the only survivor.
“You can drive a long distance and then you realize you don’t remember things you’ve passed.”
Melnyk personally believes his son may have fallen asleep, though an infant in the back seat could have been a distraction. Either way, he believes Albertans need to understand the risks.
“We need more education, and we need more police too,” said Melnyk.
“I was just in Calgary, and there was girl not driving very straight — as I passed, it was obvious she was texting.”
It’s a story any Calgary driver can relate to, but despite easy pickings for police armed with a $172 fine, Hagen says there’s no plan for a concerted crackdown.
Instead, there’ll be a renewed awareness campaign, and for those too distracted to notice the officer in their mirror, more tickets.
“I’ve stepped out of my police car, walked right up between the traffic, and knocked on their window — it scares the daylights out of them,” said Hagen.
Not as much as their distracted driving is scaring the daylights out of Calgary.