During the last few months the Halton Regional Police have decided to publicly post the names of drivers charged with impaired driving. This decision coincides with similar decisions made by the York Regional Police and the Durham Region Police. Whether the police decide to release the names of people charged with distracted driving remains a question.
Chief Tanner advised that - the service is deeply committed to traffic safety. Traffic safety continues to be one of the top priorities as noted in our citizen surveys.
The decision to make the names of people charged with impaired driving public was done to improve road safety. So here are the statistics that were provided by the Halton Regional Police regarding collisions where impaired driving attributed to the collision:
- In 2009 there were 10,383 collisions of which 116 where attributed to impaired driving
- In 2015 there were 10,913 collisions of which 64 were attributed to impaired driving
- In 2016 there were 10,878 collisions of which 87 were attributed to impaired driving
These numbers do not take into account the population growth in Halton since 2009. Collisions attributed to impaired driving in the past year has grown by 36 percent. Since 2009, 1.11 percent of all collisions in Halton Region could be attributed to impaired driving, and in 2016 that number dropped to 0.08 percent.
The increase or decrease in the total number of collisions does not take into account severe weather, or other outside factors. According to Statistics Canada for 2015 impaired driving was among the leading criminal causes of Canadian deaths. In addition, while alcohol-impaired driving is down over the past several decades, drug-impaired driving is on the rise.
A more current issue concerning Road Safety is Distracted Driving.
Distracted Driving has been a major focus of all police departments including the Halton Regional Police. However, collisions attributed to Distracted Driving are incredibly difficult to determine by the Police. A Police officer taking statements is not allowed to ask the drivers in a collision, if distracted driving was a contributing factor. Distracted driving information must be disclosed by either drivers, or witnesses. The police can not access a person's phone with out their permission. Even accessing this information is a difficult process for the police. The police must obtain a warrant even with disclosure.
Motorists must focus on the singular task of driving without the influence of alcohol, drugs or distractions of any kind - stated Police Chief Tanner.
As of September 1, 2015 drivers who were charged with distracted driving in Ontario lost three demerit points and had to pay a fine of $490.00, which could be increased by a judge.
Since 2000, the Ontario Government information on deaths from collisions caused by distracted driving have doubled. The Insurance Bureau of Canada states that a distracted driver is 23 times more likely to be in a collision. According to ICBC (Insurance Corporation of British Columbia) Distracted Driving is responsible for 27% of fatalities caused by car crashes in British Columbia.
So keeping our roads safe needs to be an important issue for Halton Regional Police, whether accidents are caused by impaired driving or distracted driving.