We can’t help but feel bad for the Perth County OPP sometimes.
Their job is to enforce the law. Yet we get upset when they issue us a speeding ticket. They tirelessly warn us to lock up our property, yet still respond to call after call about stolen items from open vehicles. We can’t seem to click the locks or put our iPods in our pockets. They give us plenty of advance notice – grace periods, even – when a new law is put in place. Yet we blatantly disregard them. Officers surely must feel like they’re beating their heads against a brick wall at times.
It’s been almost a year since the Countering Distracted Driving Act was put into effect. This means it is illegal to use any electronic hand-held device while driving. It doesn’t get much simpler than that.
A three-month grace period was granted, during which officers stopped and reminded anyone caught using a hand-held electronic device about the impending ban and let them go with a warning. A lot of good it did. Guaranteed the majority of those drivers had picked up their cell phones, iPods, BlackBerrys, etc. and were again texting, dialing, surfing etc. as soon as the officer was out of sight.
Why is it we feel some laws are just not as important as others? If we feel we have less chance of getting caught, are we more tempted to break the law? If no one ends up maimed or dead, is following the law less crucial?
This is what many people don’t seem to get – people do end up hurt and killed because of people using their devices while driving. Why do you think this law was put into place?
“The officers are out and giving tickets, but people just don’t seem to get it,” said Perth County OPP inspector Steve Porter. He added one Perth County driver was even caught with his laptop computer in front of him. Tickets for this offence are given out almost daily.
Regardless of what drivers think, their attention to the road is drastically reduced when they are fiddling with their iPhones at the wheel. Drivers should focus on their driving at all times – it’s a privilege so often taken for granted that we forget about the attention driving demands. There was a point at one time in human history where we could all travel from Point A to Point B without communicating with anyone at all.
So please. There are technologies that allow drivers to communicate hands free. Get a headset, if need be. Otherwise, keep your hands on the wheel and your eyes on the road. That text message can wait. Check your voicemail when you get home. They are not that important.
– The Listowel Banner
