Officers from the Quinte West Detachment of the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) will be participating in the province-wide Distracted Driving Campaign during March Break. Drivers caught using their cell phones may also get caught off guard by the tougher penalties that took effect on January 1, 2019.
The new penalties include a fine increase up to $1,000, three demerit points and a three-day licence suspension. The penalties increase with subsequent offences. For novice drivers in the graduated licencing system, there is no fine or additional demerit points but longer licence suspensions now apply.
The deaths of 55 people and more than 9,115 collisions were linked to an inattentive driver on OPP-patrolled roads in 2018. The OPP laid 13,529 Distracted Driving charges last year against drivers who chose to make roads unsafe by dividing their attention between driving and using a hand-held electronic device.
Secondary students from across Quinte West have stepped up and made a statement this week by pledging to their schools, their family and friends and to their community that they will not drive distracted. They have set a theme to their pledge that passengers also have a voice and that all passengers have the right to speak up against distracted driving.
The students of Bayside Secondary, Trenton High and St. Paul’s Secondary schools encourage all motorists and their passengers to speak up and keep Ontario roadways safe.
