A new ad campaign by the Government of Ontario shows the real life consequences of distracted driving alongside a simple message: âIt happens fast. Put down the phone.â
According to the province, one in seven deaths on Ontario roads are caused by distracted driving, the most of any other driving fatality, with a distracted driving incident occurring in Ontario every 30 seconds.
Melody Battle survived a distracted driving crash, in which she was the driver. According to Battle, first responders didnât think that she would make it out alive.
âI was texting my boss, âHey Iâm going to be late, sorry,â and I didnât realize once I looked up that right in front of me was a road grader,â said Battle.
After coming out of a three-week coma, Battle lost her vision in one eye and also has a brain injury. She said that the ad is amazing, in the sense that it shows people what could happen whether they think it will or not.
âPeople think theyâre invincible but let me tell you, youâre not,â she said.
According to the Government of Ontario, distracted driving consists of using your phone to talk and text as well as other activities such as eating, reading or using a GPS. Drivers using a phone are four times more likely to crash than a driver who is concentrating on the road.
According to Sergeant Darrin Turnbull, of the RCMPâs Integrated Traffic Services in Southern Alberta, many young people feel obligated to answer their phone regardless of whether they are driving due to social pressure.
âItâs more socially unacceptable to ignore the phone because if itâs a boyfriend-girlfriend situation and you donât answer that text itâs like you are giving them the silent treatment,â said Sgt. Turnbull.
Research has shown that distracted driving deaths have increased 26 per cent in the last decade.
With a report from CTVâs Janet Dirks