Distracted driving 'huge concern' for OPP, says spokesman
CBC News | Posted: March 14, 2016 7:47 PM | Last Updated: March 14, 2016
Third year in a row distracted driving tops list of fatal factors
Distracted driving has become the top reason behind fatal road crashes in Ontario, according to 2015 statistics from the Ontario Provincial Police.
"The overall deaths have been going down across the province," OPP spokesman Sgt. Kerry Smith told CBC Radio's The Morning Edition in Kitchener-Waterloo, "but the fact that distracted driving is the leading cause of those deaths ... and has been for the last three years, is a huge concern for us."
The list of principal crash causes in 2015 include:
- Distracted driving (69 fatalities).
- Speed (61 fatalities).
- Seat-belt related (51 fatalities).
- Alcohol/impairment (45 fatalities).
In Ontario it is illegal for drivers to talk, text, type, dial or email using hand-held cell phones and other hand-held communications and entertainment devices while driving.