Police report 658 cases of distracted driving in October, SGI says

Saskatchewan Government Insurance focused on distracted driving during October’s Traffic Safety Spotlight.

Last month, police caught 658 people for the offence, with 538 ticketed for using a cellphone behind the wheel.

According to SGI, that was a sharp drop from numbers recorded in October 2019, when there were nearly double that number of offences.

“But 658 distracted driving offences is still a number that is higher than it should be. SGI continues to encourage drivers to change their bad habits on the road,” the Crown corporation said in a news release.

SGI is reminding drivers that distracted driving comes with a $580 ticket and four demerit points for a first offence, with penalties escalating for further offences.

Last year, distracted driving was a factor in more than 4,500 crashes which killed 16 people in the province.

“Put your phone out of sight, hand it over to your passenger, turn on the ‘do not disturb’ function, or finalize your plans before you start to drive,” the release added.

There were a few other numbers of note in October.

Police reported 437 incidents of impaired driving, with 352 resulting in criminal charges.

There were nearly 7,000 tickets written for speeding or aggressive driving.

Also, 403 tickets were issued for improper seatbelts or child passenger restraints.