As part of our commitment to Community Safety and Wellness, the Greater Sudbury Police Traffic Management Unit and Tactical Team engaged in a road safety initiative focused on Distracted Driving.
Participating officers used a multitude of strategies to detect drivers who decide to operate their cell phone while operating a motor vehicle.
The dangers associated to distracted driving can be fatal and the selfish act of texting or talking on a cell phone while driving put all road users at risk.
Yesterday Greater Sudbury Police officers partnered with City Transit and implanted an officer on two different transit buses that traveled various routes throughout the city. The officers had an advantageous viewpoint from the transit bus as they could see down into vehicles while being offered cover from an unexpected mode of transportation.
When officers observed drivers using their cell phones they notified Traffic Management officers who were following nearby and the offending vehicle was stopped.
Besides contributing to enforcement, the officers on the City Transit buses created tremendous public awareness and the partnership with City Transit was very positively received by the community.
Involved officers also patrolled our busiest roads in under cover vehicles and conducted stationary enforcement at various intersections.
The enforcement results from yesterday’s Distracted Driving Initiative are as follows:
Distracted Driving with hand-held device
27 tickets issued
Other Traffic related offences
2 speeding tickets, 3 tickets issued for equipment, 3 tickets issued for improper documentations, 1 seatbelt offence and 1 ticket for disobeying a red light.
Public Awareness and Education
Immeasurable - To combat any road safety concerns, Greater Sudbury Police work with community partners and together through education, engineering and enforcement we work to accomplish our goal for safer roads. The public awareness created with our partnership with City Transit will hopefully deter many of our community drivers and create safer driving habits.
Police also observed a car driving with major front end collision damage. When approached, the driver was using his cell phone. The vehicle was removed from the road, licence plates seized and the driver charged with operating an unsafe vehicle, failing to report an accident and drive while using a hand-held communications device.
Bus routes and roads patrolled by officers on City Transit buses included: Kingsway Blvd, Barrydowne Rd, Paris St, Regent St, Brady St and Ramsey Lake Road.
Fines / Penalties
If convicted of distracted driving, a fully licenced driver (holder of Class A, B, C, D, E, F, G) or a hybrid driver (holder of a full-class licence and a novice licence such as Class G and M1) will receive:
• a fine of $400, plus a victim surcharge and court fee, for a total of $490 if settled out of court
• fine of up to $1,000 if you receive a summons
• three demerit points applied to your driver’s record on conviction
A novice driver (subject to the Graduated Licensing program) will be subject to escalating sanctions:
• first occurrence will result in a 30-day licence suspension
• second occurrence will result in 90-day licence suspension
• licence cancellation and removal from the Graduated Licensing System for a third occurrence
The Greater Sudbury Police Service would like to thank City Transit for assisting us with keeping our roads and community safe!