Traffic enforcement officers with the Winnipeg Police Service said texting and driving offences are still frustratingly high in the city.
Enforcement is no longer a police car pulling you over for touching your phone, as officers are getting creative to catch distracted drivers in Winnipeg.
Const. Curtis Benzick, a Traffic Collision Investigator, has been working hard to bring the number of drivers who use their phones while on the road down, but said it’s not getting through to some people.
WATCH: Const. Benzick said people in Winnipeg continue to use their phones while they are driving
“I caught a girl on her birthday, and then two hours later I caught her again. So stuff like that truly shows that she wasn’t getting the message that texting and driving is bad,” Benzick said.
He said lives are lost on the roads when someone decides to pick up their phone and he is at a loss for what will eventually get through to some notorious cell phone users.
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According to the Winnipeg Police Service, the number of tickets handed out to distracted drivers over the last five years have remained around the same number.
- 2013: 4689
- 2014: 5136
- 2015: 4709
- 2016: 4639
- 2017: 3511 as of Oct.6
“I find it frustrating that people aren’t getting the message to not be on their phone,” Benzick said.
He said several tactics have been adopted to identify the drivers breaking the law on the roads.
The methods include using the sky walk in downtown to peer into people’s vehicles, driving a truck to be able to look down into cars, and working with plain clothes officers who are on sidewalks and radio in to the officer ahead to pull the vehicle over.
WATCH: Const. Benzick describes the methods police use to catch distracted drivers in the act
While the drivers that are caught are a wide array of ages, Benzick said he’s noticed the majority fall under the age of 30.
He said on average, in an hour he will catch four to six people distracted driving and if he’s working a full day on this he will catch at least 20 people.