The OPP Will No Longer 'Let You Off With A Warning' If You're Caught Distracted Driving
The Ontario Provincial Police are tackling the growing distracted driving problem with harsher measures that involve no warnings for guilty offenders, just straight fines.
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"The time for warnings is certainly gone," said OPP Sgt. David Rektor to CBC. "Warnings served a purpose at the initial stages when people were transitioning to this law, but this law has been in effect for a number of years now. There's no reason why somebody needs to be distracted."
Last month, the organization held a campaign to crack down on distracted drivers on OPP-patrolled roads. They deployed special vehicles not normally associated with police surveillance, such as sprinter vans, to catch even more guilty offenders.
Though the campaign is now over, the OPP still remind drivers that they will still be monitoring the roads closely and enforcing harsher penalties where applicable.
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"We do have a few techniques up our sleeve to make sure that drivers are driving fully attentive, and those that are driving thinking they're getting away with distracted driving will be caught," said Rektor.
Those caught driving while distracted will be automatically subject to a fine of up to $1,000 and three demerit points applied to their records. Judges can also approve authorities to automatically suspend licences under certain circumstances.
"We want to get rid of this mentality that you can still do something else other than concentrate on the road in front of you, when the fact is that if you're doing that, you're four times more likely to be involved in a collision than a driver who is focused on the road."