Saskatchewan police catch 445 drivers during last month’s distracted driving campaign

Police in Saskatchewan caught 445 drivers – either distracted themselves or charged with distracting others – during October’s province-wide traffic safety spotlight on distracted driving, Saskatchewan Government Insurance (SGI) said on Friday.

Of the 445 drivers, the majority of tickets – 246 – were for using a cellphone while driving, SGI, Saskatchewan’s self-sustaining auto insurance fund, said in a press release. Another 151 tickets were for “driving without due care and attention”; 21 were for driving a vehicle without reasonable consideration for others; 17 tickets were for performing an activity to distract, startle or interfere with others; six tickets were for stunting; three for causing a loud and unnecessary noise with a motor vehicle and one ticket was for racing.

Related: Saskatchewan Government Insurance and police focusing on distracted drivers throughout October

Law enforcement officers in the province also issued 6,576 speeding tickets, 432 tickets for failing to wear a seatbelt and/or have a child restrained in the appropriate car/booster seat, and 373 impaired driving-related charges, SGI said in the release.

SGI said last month that 26 people were killed and nearly 600 were injured last year due to distracted driving, which often includes cellphone use behind the wheel. There were also more than 3,300 distracted-driving collisions in Saskatchewan last year, making it the top contributing factor in all collisions and the third contributing factor in fatal collisions, following impaired driving (first) and speeding (second).

Related: Saskatchewan Government Insurance, police to focus on safe winter driving throughout November

This month, the focus is on safe winter driving and police continue to keep an eye out for people driving too fast for road conditions. According to SGI, from November 2013 to March 2014 (although 2014 statistics are preliminary), driving too fast for road conditions was cited as a contributing factor in 1,511 collisions in Saskatchewan, resulting in seven deaths and 617 injuries.