Since the Alberta distracted driving law came into effect on September 1, 2011 many people are still not getting the point to put down their cellular phone, hamburger (yes, I’m serious) or makeup brush.
Numerous times every day I see people on their phones talking away with one hand and trying to drive with the other – it’s absolutely ridiculous!
As I was driving to school one morning, I had a lady behind me in a van applying her makeup in her rear-view mirror with a makeup brush. I kept giving her exasperated looks and staring right at her, but she just went about her business and looked at me like I was the crazy one. Thankfully she didn’t run into me.
What irks me the most about situations like this is the consequences for these offences do not suffice at all.
According to the Alberta Motor Association (AMA), the fine for distracted driving is $172 and the driver loses no demerit points.
Something I don’t understand is why Alberta doesn’t have stricter laws about texting and driving or anything else that could be a distraction in a vehicle.
Here’s an idea of how replying to a text message could be hazardous when driving 50km/h on city streets.
While texting, your eyes were off the road for 33.6 seconds. During this time, your vehicle travelled 467 metres. This distance is equivalent to approximately 23 train cars end-to-end.
In case you’ve failed to notice, that’s a lot of things happening throughout a short amount of time that you’ve missed.
Drivers who are engaged in reaching for a moving object are nine times more likely to be involved in a crash or close to one, compared to non-distracted drivers.
If that’s not a disconcerting wake up call, then you are just not listening.
Wouldn’t it be nice if there was a harsher penalty? Like a $500 fine for distracted driving, even if it’s the driver’s first offence. Along with losing five demerit points and having their license suspended for one week, just to make them fully aware at how irresponsible their actions really are.
I think that if drivers choose to be reckless and put other’s lives in danger, then they should be able to handle the consequences given to them. I know we are many years away from those kind of consequences, but a girl can dream, right?