Massive Amount of People Charged in Distracted Driving Blitz in Brampton

Drivers, put down your phones–a distracted driving campaign has lead to over 500 charges being laid in Brampton and Mississauga.

Drivers, put down your phones–a distracted driving campaign has lead to over 500 charges being laid in Brampton and Mississauga.

As texter-drivers no doubt know (or should know), legislation was passed to make it an offence under the Highway Traffic Act for drivers to talk, text, dial or email using a handheld device in Ontario back in 2009. Eight years later, police say drivers continue to ignore this law.

In August of this year, Peel Regional Police Road Safety Services officers launched a distracted driving campaign focusing on “education through enforcement.”

The campaign kicked off on Aug. 2 and ended Nov. 15.

As a result of the 16 week campaign, officers laid a total of 400 charges for driving with a hand held communication device.

Additionally, a total of 150 charges were laid for various Highway Traffic Act Offences.

It is important to note that the 550 charges laid are specific to the campaign and do not include charges laid in the daily enforcement done by Peel police officers.

Police say the objectives of the campaign included:

• Educating the public regarding the dangers of distracted driving.
• Zero tolerance as it pertains to distracted driving.
• Reducing the number of serious collisions due to distracted driving.
• Improving road safety, driving performance and awareness by discouraging drivers from engaging in distracted driving behaviors.
• During the campaign, two officers from Road Safety Services conducted dedicated enforcement twice a week.

Police are encouraging anyone who witnesses dangerous or distracted driving to contact them using the Road Watch program.