March is Distracted Driving Awareness Month in Ontario and Provincial Police are trying to drive home the message of just how deadly driving while distracted can be.
South Bruce OPP Constable, Kevin Martin, points out that there were 69 fatalities last year alone on roads in Ontario where driver distraction played a part.
"If you look at that, on the surface, 69 out of 12 million ain't bad. Well guess what, that's 69 families that are marking the death of a loved one in a preventable crash because you don't need to be on that phone; what is so important that you can't wait until you get home or you pull to the side of the road," says Provincial Constable Martin.
Police have laid more than 20,000 distracted driving related charges annually over the last three years, that's double the number of impaired driving related charges laid.
"The fact of the matter is, this is a problem, it's the number one killer right now on roads in Ontario and it's got to come to an end," adds Martin.
Ontario Provincial Police will be out in force province wide from March 14th to 20th cracking down on distracted drivers as part of their awareness campaign.
