Ottawa Police Issue $1 Million in Distracted Driving Fines

Ottawa law enforcement has issued more than $1 million dollars in fines to motorists for distracted driving in this year alone and it not the end of the year. Despite the enormous amount of fines issued, motorists are not deterred and continue to engage in distracted behaviours while driving.

Ottawa law enforcement is baffled at the attitude and actions of their fellow motorists. Despite day blitz campaigns motorists don’t seem even to notice that law enforcement is watching as they engage with their phones while driving.

Ontario has increased the fines for distracted driving. Currently, the minimum penalty for a driver involved in distracted driving behaviour is $490 and up to $1000 if you choose to litigate the original fine. Drivers will also be subject to receiving three demerit points. According to the recent numbers from Ottawa, a single officer wrote over $300,000 in tickets for cell phone use alone. Many of these motorists will fight the ticket, hoping the officer does not show up to court but the demerit points will remain on a driver’s record.

Drivers Continue to Drive Distracted In Ottawa

Despite the fines and demerit points, police are still baffled as to why drivers continue to engage in distracted driving behaviours. Perhaps some motorists need to see the consequences of distracted driving as police officers do. As an example, perhaps a crash involving young people who chose to take selfies while driving and had a fatal collision would knock some sense into drivers.

Law enforcement in Ottawa has implemented technology which allows police officers to scan license plates without manual implementation, allowing officers to focus on driver’s behaviour. This technology has enabled police officers to focus on drivers and what they are doing behind the wheel. The camera technology can scan up to 5,000 licence plates an hour, altering police to expired and flagged vehicles.

Ottawa police confirmed that the attitude amongst drivers who were pulled over for distracted driving behaviours was poor. Many thought that they were being targeted for actions that were not detrimental to anyone. Police were told by disgruntled drivers to go out and look for real criminals. It is this type of attitude that has resulted in crashes and fatalities on the roads from distracted driving!