OPP in the region will be out this week looking for people who are distracted while they are driving.
Distracted driving entails a driver not concentrating on the road, and instead drawn to devices such as cell phones and other electronic devices.
OPP said distracted driving led to multiple serious collisions in the Bancroft area in 2024.
Media Relations Officer, Const. Daniel Cook, says that OPP in Bancroft is part of a pilot project that is seeing more officers on the roads.
“That’s part of it, is being more visible and conducting traffic enforcement, which has increased quite a bit in the last couple of years. You’re just keeping that visibility up. And education is very important. People realizing that distracted driving is, I think, our top contributor to collisions in the area.”
Police say that the only time a driver can engage with their phone while driving would be to see directions from a GPS or talking handsfree.
At no time should a driver be watching videos, texting, programming GPS, or talking with their phone on speaker while holding the phone.
If a phone is being used for GPS or utilizing handsfree, it must be mounted to the dash and drivers must pull over to program the GPS.
Fines can range from $600 to $1,000. And three offences will result in a license being cancelled.
Drivers are reminded to either shut their phones off, have a passenger help, or pull over if the matter is urgent. If pulling over, you must be off the roadway, not disrupting traffic, and your vehicle must be parked.
