Ontario Provincial Police predicts the number of distracted driving related deaths on OPP-patrolled roads will be double the number of impaired driving related deaths this year.
As of mid-August, the OPP investigated 38 road deaths with an inattentive driver involved compared to 19 deaths involving an impaired driving.
The OPP are urging drivers and passengers to develop a similar level of public intolerance to distracted driving that exists for impaired driving.
“Don’t be a passenger of a distracted driver. Recognize that they are endangering your life. Speak up and insist that they focus on the road and on safe driving. By not doing so, you are contributing to the problem. Since 2009, our officers have investigated more than 600 road deaths that involved an inattentive driver. Consider how many of those innocent lives could have been saved had someone else in the vehicle intervened,” said OPP Deputy Commissioner Brad Blair in a news release.
Over the Labour Day long weekend, OPP will be out on the roads, waterways and trails as part of its distracted driving campaign.