North Okanagan drivers remain distracted.
In a two-hour operation Friday, March 10, between 1 p.m. and 3 p.m., police officers issued 15 cellphone violations.
The operation was to support the RCMP’s Distracted Driving Month in the province.
“The largest concern was that the officers were unable to keep up with the amount of distracted drivers seen during this operation,” said Const. Gary McLaughlin of North Okanagan Traffic Services.
“At least 15 more drivers were seen on their cellphones but were unable to be stopped by police because of safety concerns and timing. This means that, on average, there was a distracted driver was passing this police operation every four minutes.”
In general, distracted driving and inattention is a top contributing factor to motor vehicle crashes in B.C., along with drug or alcohol-affected driving, and speeding.
Drivers who use hand-held devices are four times more likely to get into collisions.
RCMP are reminding the motoring public to leave their cellphones alone when driving.