Prairie drivers concerned about texting and driving: CAA

Views on the dangers of texting while driving continue to get worse. A recent poll by CAA Saskatchewan found more than four out of five drivers believe texting while driving is a bigger problem today than it was three years ago.

“Texting and driving is tied with drunk driving as the number one road safety concern among drivers,” CAA Saskatchewan Spokesperson Christine Niemcyk said. “A whopping 96 per cent say that drivers who text and drive are a threat to their personal safety on the road.”

The findings are based on a poll of 607 residents in Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba, carried out in November. That was the same month SGI’s reported the highest number of distracted driving tickets handed out in the province since they began tracking them over three years ago. In Saskatchewan, police found 636 distracted driving offences, 554 of which related to cell phone use. Eleven distracted drivers were fined in Prince Albert, eight of which related to cell phones.

“Despite anti-texting-and-driving laws in all provinces across the country and several years of public education campaigns, Canadians still don’t seem to be getting the message,” Fred Titanich, president and CEO of CAA Saskatchewan said in a statement.

The CAA poll found divers also believe other forms of distraction are increasingly an issue. These include eating, drinking and grooming. Titanich said studies show distracted drivers are as much as 23 times more likely to get into a collision.

“Its important we all put our devices down and stay focused on the road,” he said.