It’s been almost four years to the day since new provincial laws increased penalties for Manitoba drivers picking up their cellphones while behind the wheel — but has anything changed?
A local trucker says he finds the number of distracted drivers out there disturbing. David Henry told 680 CJOB’s The Start that he narrowly avoided being hit by a pickup truck hauling a trailer near Steinbach Monday morning — forcing him to drive his semi onto the shoulder.
“That happens on two lanes an awful lot. I can show you different areas where it’s worse than ever, and if you get into really busy traffic, that’s also where there’s more people on their phones with their heads down.
“It’s mind-boggling … it’s getting worse. It’s definitely not getting better.”
Henry said he has to watch his fellow drivers like a hawk these days “because it’s getting so bad.”
One local expert in traffic fines says the legislation hasn’t made much of an impact, and that scofflaws continue to text and drive despite the Nov. 1, 2018, increase in penalties.
Since then, Manitobans who use a cellphone while driving could face a $672 ticket, five demerit points and a license suspension for up to a week.
Len Eastoe of Winnipeg’s Traffic Ticket Experts told 680 CJOB he sees anywhere from five to 10 tickets a week — which actually an increase compared to 18 months ago.
“It’s very difficult for them to put those phones down and ignore them while they’re driving,” Eastoe said.
“We’re not getting the message.”
Manitoba RCMP Sgt. Mark Hume told 680 CJOB that distracted driving is still a problem, and that looking at statistics isn’t necessarily going to paint the full picture.
“Four to five per cent of people who are killed in car accidents are due to distracted driving, but that’s a pretty low number,” Hume said. “We often can’t tell if that was the cause by the time we’re investigating crashes — I’m sure the number is much higher.
“Out on the highways, it’s not quite as evident as it is in town in terms of enforcement.”
Hume said, anecdotally, he doesn’t see as many drivers texting while he’s on the roads and highways in a police cruiser, but when he’s in his civilian vehicle, he notices other drivers are less afraid to break the law.
“A lot of people are holding it down under their steering wheel, they’re still texting — if I could write tickets when I’m driving around in my own vehicle, I think the numbers would be a lot higher.”
The term “distracted driving” in Manitoba is specific to hand-held devices, Hume said, but any type of distraction can potentially fall under a careless driving offence.
“We’ve come across someone who actually had a TV screen taped to their steering wheel and was actually watching a movie while driving a semi down the road.”