Young drivers are being reminded to pay attention to the road while behind the wheel this summer.
The Alberta RCMP said it’s delivering the reminder because July is the most dangerous month of the year for young drivers who are involved in fatal collisions most often this month.
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“The message is simple: distracted driving is extremely dangerous. It puts you and everyone else on the road at greater risk of being involved in a collision,” Alberta Traffic Sheriffs superintendent Rick Gardner said.
“Drivers need to keep their eyes on the road and off the phones.”
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According to Alberta Transportation, 14 per cent of the province’s total drivers are young motorists, but they made up more than 20 per cent of the drivers involved in casualty collisions in 2015. The RCMP said one of the main factors is distracted driving.
“Distracted driving can be as dangerous as impaired driving,” RCMP Sgt. Darrin Turnbull said.
“Officers from the Integrated Traffic Units are always watching for distracted drivers and we’ve seen everything from the obvious cell phones, to reading a book, to shaving, to holding a bowl of soup with one hand and eating it with a spoon in the other, all while driving.”
READ MORE: Distracted driving deaths outpacing impaired driving deaths
Alberta’s Ministry of Transportation statistics suggest:
- One in five new drivers are involved in a collision during their first two years of driving;
- Distracted drivers are three times more likely to be involved in a collision than attentive ones;
- The highest distracted driving rates are male drivers between 22 and 34 years old;