Editor,
You’d think a government wanting to enact effective legislation would consult with experts in the field and then mostly follow their advice when writing a new law. Not the government of Alberta! And not with the new Alberta “distracted driving law.”
This is an example of the half-measures and one-step-forward, two-steps-back that we’ve come to expect from a government that is growing tired and ineffective.
So what would experts say about distracted driving legislation? One of Canada’s leading experts on this topic is Dr. Louis
Francescutti, an emergency room doctor in Edmonton. Dr. Francescutti says he’d prefer no law at all than this law, saying it’ll probably kill more people than it will save.
According to Dr. Francescutti, the research shows that using a cellphone while driving increases the risk of collision by four to six times, and it doesn’t matter whether the cell-phone is hand-held or hands-free. It’s the mind that needs to be engaged, not the hands. The main problem with any cell-phone use while driving is not that both hands are not on the wheel, it’s that the mind is elsewhere, engaged in a conversation. Unlike a passenger in the vehicle, the person on the other end of the conversation cannot see when difficult driving situations arise and adjust accordingly. A person’s reaction time and peripheral vision are seriously impaired by cell-phone use, making it equivalent to driving with over .08 blood alcohol.
The government has said a ban on hands-free cell phones would be impossible to enforce; however, Dr. Francescutti points out that (a) cell phone companies keep accurate records of when calls are made, down to the second, and (b) recent autos have an event recorder that notes the exact time when an airbag is deployed. If anyone is in an accident it would not be difficult to subpoena these records to prosecute offenders. Indeed, anyone who's been injured by a cell-phone using driver should pursue this path in any legal action.
The best policy is when someone calls is to let the phone take the message, pull over, park, and call them back. For more information, see http://www.cellphonefreedriving.ca/ Too bad the government MLAs didn’t bother to look here.
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Mark Sandilands
Published today in the Lethbridge Herald:
http://www.lethbridgeherald.com/letters-to-the-editor/new-driving-law-ringsthe-wrong-number-91311.html
