I am sure we have all been guilty of this situation: sitting in traffic waiting for a light to change or in one of our many construction zones and glance over to our phone. It is so easy to just send a quick text or surf your recent likes. Although it may seem harmless, we need to be present and responsible for our safety as well as the safety of others.
Not only is it currently a $287 ticket and three demerit points on your license, it is also a ratable ticket with most insurance companies. What this means is that you will no longer be eligible for conviction free discounts or could receive conviction surcharges; especially when you are a young driver. Simply put, distracted driving is not a violation insurers take lightly because of the hazard it causes on our roadways.

As noted in the online article from the Insurance Bureau of Canada, distracted driving can be as dangerous as driving while under the influence and is much more common. If you drive while distracted, you should know these facts:

• You are 23 times more likely to be involved in a collision if you text while driving and four times more likely if you talk on a cellphone (hand-held or hands-free) while driving.
• A distracted driver may fail to see up to 50% of the available information in the driving environment. You may look but not actually “see” what is happening.
• A study showed that nearly 80% of collisions and 65% of near-collisions involved some form of driver inattention up to three seconds prior to the event.

So, let’s keep our heads up and the phones down.

Created by Natalie Visser