What is the best way to end cellphone use while driving?
Quebec wants it criminalized. B.C. and Ontario are cracking down Labour Day weekend— all to stop what's fast becoming more deadly than drunk driving. What is the best way to end cellphone use while driving?
More from this episode:
- Are self-driving tractors the future of farming?
- 'It's turned my life upside down': Pain persists for victim of distracted driving collision
- 'They're going to run me over and they won't even think twice'
GUESTS | LIVE CHAT | LINKS & ARTICLES | DOWNLOAD THE MP3 | SHORT PODCAST
You're driving along, both hands on the wheel, when your phone buzzes or it makes that irresistible chime. You look down and wonder, "Maybe it's my boss with that urgent update on the project… maybe it's my daughter, saying she got hurt at practice, maybe it's my father, my lover, my BFF..." You can't help yourself: you pick up the phone. Next thing you know, you're texting back. All the while you're doing 80 km/h, with traffic, cyclists, and pedestrians all around.
Let's be honest, most of us are guilty. Three out of four Canadian drivers admit to distracted driving. This long weekend, police in B.C. and Ontario are out in force cracking down on what the OPP say has become the number one killer on the roads: distracted driving.
We know the dangers of texting and driving, but what can be done to STOP it?
Are stronger laws the solution? Quebec wants it a criminal offence. Will that curb our addiction to connectivity? Or would it be more effective to change the behaviour through education campaigns? Some suggest the answer lies in more tech.
Our question today: "What's the best way to stop cellphone use while driving?"
Guests
Erik Hanna, motocyclist who took video of distracted driver who was charged in Ottawa
Karen Bowman, Founder of Drop it and Drive, national campaign to raise awareness about the consequences of distracted driving.
Twitter: @DropItAndDrive
Dr. Louis Francescutti, Practicing emergency physician and public health professor, University of Alberta. Advocate for the Coalition for Cellphone Free Driving, a graduate student-lead initiative at U of A. Past-President of the Canadian Medical Association, and Past-President of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada.
Twitter: @drfrancescutti
Raynald Marchand, General Manager of Programs, Canada Safety Council, and sits on the Traffic Committee for the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police.
Twitter: @CanadaSafetyCSC
Links and Articles
CBC.ca
- Quebec to Ottawa: Consider criminalizing cellphone use while driving
- DriveCare devices silence cellphones to prevent distracted driving
- Federal government won't introduce cellphone driving law, will leave issue to provinces
- Criminal offence not needed for cellphone use while driving: Saskatoon police chief
- Distracted driving continues to be issue in New Brunswick
- Are stronger laws the solution to curbing distracted driving?
- Despite crackdowns, distracted driving remains a problem across Canada
- New ad campaign makes distracted drivers think twice
- New shock ad against texting and driving attacks smartphone addiction
- Emergency room doctor says making it a criminal offence long overdue
- Distracted driving laws across Canada (Mar. 19, 2014)
- Despite crackdowns, distracted driving remains a problem across Canada
- Ottawa discourages citizen policing after texting-and-driving video incident