RPS officer explains distracted driving offences

A Regina Police Service traffic officer is reminding all drivers that picking up their cellphone while stopped at a red light still counts as distracted driving and could lead to a fine of $580 for the first offence.

Const. Greg Krawetz joined Gormley on Monday morning to review the laws around distracted driving after fines more than doubled over the weekend. He said officers in unmarked vehicles still constantly see people picking up their cellphones when they are stopped at a red light or looking down as soon as it makes a sound.

“Everyone looks at it as soon as it dings. As soon as their phone makes a noise, as soon as their phone vibrates, they take their eyes off the road and look and then of course when they get to a red light or a stop sign, they pick up their phone and start texting or checking messages and those are the two common things we see most often,” Krawetz explained.

If drivers feel the need to pick up their phones for any reason at all, Krawetz said they must pull into a curb lane and put their vehicles in park.

The distracted driving law does allow the exception for experienced drivers to touch one single button to answer a call or text through voice command through a Bluetooth connection in the vehicle or a properly mounted phone.

“It’s the same for everything whether it’s answering, texting, whatever it is. It’s one button allowed to do your thing. So it might have to be a ‘Hey Siri’ or whatever it is for your phone. But you can’t press multiple buttons to begin to do your text to talk,” Krawetz said.

Manipulating anything which requires taking your hands off the wheel could fall under either the distracted driving law or driving without due care and attention law. Krawetz said he has seen people reading, doing their makeup and even shaving while driving to work.

“It’s pretty obvious when somebody isn’t paying attention. We can see what they’re doing. If it’s not a driving act which is hands on the steering wheel and following the rules of the road, then it can fall under due care and attention,” Krawetz said.

When asked about the long list of potential distractions such as drinking coffee or eating, Krawetz said it all falls under the officer’s discretion to issue a warning or give a ticket or pull a driver over at all.

“If you are still able to follow all the rules of the road, some officers will say, ‘Well, they were driving with due care and attention then because they were able to follow all the rules of the road and they didn’t cause any road hazards,’ but it’s going to be an individual officer’s discretion for every situation,” Krawetz said.

As of Saturday, the penalty for the first infraction of distracted driving doubled to a fine of $580 and losing four demerit points.

Getting caught for distracted driving a second time will result in a fine of $1,400 and a third ticket is worth $2,100. Each ticket will cost a driver an additional four demerit points off their licence and will result in a vehicle getting impounded for a week.