Distracted driving tickets are down, but it's still a major concern on Saskatchewan's roads, say experts

Jeffery Tram · CBC News

· Posted: Mar 06, 2025 5:00 AM EST | Last Updated: 10 hours ago

Distracted driving remains a large interest connected Saskatchewan roads, with experts and advocates informing that adjacent a fewer seconds of inattention tin person deadly consequences.

Driving instructors, constabulary officers and different Saskatchewan residents spoke with host Sam Maciag on CBC Radio's Blue Sky Wednesday to stock their experiences with distracted driving, and their thoughts connected however to forestall it.

Ron Buddecke, a driving instructor, said distractions travel successful 3 forms.

Those are "a ocular distraction, wherever you're really taking your eyes disconnected the road; a manual distraction, wherever you're taking your hands disconnected the wheel; and past you tin person a cognitive [distraction], wherever you're taking your caput disconnected of what you're doing," Buddecke said.

Texting portion driving is peculiarly dangerous, due to the fact that it involves each 3 types of distraction, helium said.

"Texting portion driving makes the operator 23 times much apt to crash," helium said. "Drivers talking connected a cellphone, conscionable talking, are 4 times much apt to person a car collision."

Distractions aren't conscionable constricted to phones, helium added, and tin see "MP3 players that are going, passengers and pets," arsenic good arsenic "eating and drinking — I've seen that lots. And adjusting your vigor is simply a distraction."

He besides noted that billboards, pedestrians and adjacent GPS devices tin instrumentality a driver's absorption distant from the road.

For Sandra LaRose, a roadworthy information pedagogue and speaker, the dangers of distracted driving are personal. Her daughter, Kailynn, was killed successful a crash. LaRose present advocates for safer driving habits.

"I'm hyper-aware present … particularly since I bash a batch of road driving," she said. "From the distance, cars coming towards me, I tin archer erstwhile they're starting to veer into my lane oregon they're veering towards the ditch."

LaRose said she often sees distracted drivers successful the city, including radical connected phones.

She urged radical to deliberation doubly earlier making calls to drivers.

"If you cognize they're connected the road, don't call," she said. "There's thing worthy losing your beingness implicit — perfectly nothing. Everything tin wait."

Officer issued 1,500 cellphone tickets successful 1 year

Regina Police Service Const. Mike Seel, known arsenic "Hawkeye" connected societal media for his enactment successful postulation enforcement, said distracted driving remains a superior problem, contempt immoderate improvements.

"There's that 1 twelvemonth I personally wrote astir 1,500 cellphone tickets," helium said. "In the past mates years, it's inactive astir 500 oregon 600 that I've written a year, but that's a marked decrease, which is bully to see."

Seal said a operation of factors — including newer cars with hands-free technology, harsher penalties and nationalist consciousness — person contributed to the decrease.

But distracted driving remains "literally conscionable beneath impaired driving, and causing injuries and deaths for accidents successful the province," helium said, and he still catches distracted drivers connected a regular basis.

"I had a woman I pulled over, and it was the 4th clip successful 12 months that she's been connected her cellphone," helium said.

LaRose says she hopes radical recognize that distracted driving is preventable.

"We person not lived with cellphones for eternity, and we each managed," she said. "We managed without Google Maps, we managed without phones, we managed without texting. Your beingness is acold much precious than your time."