EDMONTON – Nearly nine years ago, John Boden’s life was forever changed when he was struck head-on by a distracted driver.
“It happened on a Friday,” Boden, a Camrose native, recalled Thursday. “A young girl, 17 years old, was driving and text messaging and she hit me head on.”
The collision happened in July 2007 just west of Camrose. Boden, who is now a quadriplegic, said the teen was able to go to work the following Monday.
“I’m not working and nor will I ever be able to work,” Boden said.
Boden has never met the girl in person, but said he’s not angry.
“As long as she learned from it. Everybody makes mistakes and hopefully everybody learns from their mistakes.”
Boden went through intense physiotherapy at the Glenrose Rehabilitation Hospital and still receives outpatient care. He hit a major milestone in his recovery last summer when he was able to walk one of his daughters down the aisle.
Boden now spends a lot of his time talking to high school students about the dangers of distracted driving.
He said the response he’s received from students, parents and teachers has been incredibly supportive.
“A lot of them have said they won’t text. I’ve had parents come up and say, ‘John, I’ve got two children. I will not text and drive again, I promise you.'”
According to Const. Michael Hibbs with the Whitecourt RCMP, 84 per cent of the collisions on Alberta roads in 2014 were a result of distracted driving.
“We’ve given people a distracted driving ticket and they’ll just crumple it up and throw it to the side,” Hibbs said.
He hopes increased penalties that came into effect in January will help deter people from driving while distracted.
However, earlier this week, a member of the Strathcona County RCMP told Global News nothing has changed on Alberta roads.
“Unfortunately the fines which were recently raised … and the adding of demerit points hasn’t made any difference whatsoever out here so we’re going to have to certainly look at possibly raising the fines again and maybe higher demerit points,” Cpl. Chris Little said Monday.
“In this province we were very slow to bring out legislation regarding distracted driving. So if you can use the analogy of, ‘the horse is out of the stable,’ now we’re fighting a losing battle with electronic devices because, like I said, people are addicted to them and it’s an uphill battle for us out here.”
As of Jan. 1, 2016, a distracted driving ticket in Alberta comes with a $287 fine and three demerit points.
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