Drumheller RCMP Staff Sergeant Art Hopkins says he supports more stringent penalties for distracted driving
Despite a $172 fine, distracted driving continues to be a concern locally and provincially.
In the last session of the Legislature, MLA Moe Emery brought the issue back into the light by proposing tougher distracted driving legislation. His proposal would see the fine bumped up to $250 as well as three demerit points.
Staff Sergeant Art Hopkins says they are losing the battle combating distracted driving.
“Not just in our detachment, it is province wide, it is across the country. It is very noticeable the amount of distracted driving. It is just getting more and more prominent with the use of cell phones with texting abilities,” said Hopkins. “There is not a day goes by that as I drive my own vehicle around, I see people texting and talking on the phone all the time.”
He is aware of Emery’s private members bill and feels this could be a tool that would help enforcement.
“We have tried enforcement, we have written a million of these tickets and it has had little to no effect,” he said.
He said at first people were cognizant of the new law when introduced in 2011.
“Initially when the law was announced, it dropped drastically, but now it is running rampant. We don’t have enough members to police that.”
“For using a cell phone, texting on these devices, or distracted driving as a whole, we have to make them personally more responsible for it. That means if the fine is heavier or there are demerit points, it would mean people losing their driver’s license.”
He said it is not difficult for drivers to comply with the law.
“There are many ways to get around it, you can go and buy an earpiece that communicates with your cell phone so you are hands free. It’s cheaper than what the fine is right now, there is no reason not to comply with this,” he said.
This approach has worked well with other traffic issues.
“If you look at impaired driving, it used to be a $300 fine and six month suspension. In order to show some reduction in it, they had to continually increase the penalty because there just aren’t enough policemen to do everything. You have to make the deterrent heavy enough that it will actually work. The present fine for distracted driving is not a big enough deterrent.”
