City Police City police news release…
Working Together to Keep Our Roads Safe
Traffic and Patrol Officers from the Sault Ste. Marie Police Service are working on a month long blitz to help keep our roads safe.

The Sault Ste. Marie Police Service indicated that in March officers would be paying extra attention to drivers who not paying attention to the road due to distracted driving.

Our officers have been assisted in this initiative by members of the North East Region Ontario Provincial Police Highway Safety Division.

To date fifty (50) tickets have been issued to drivers who are not paying attention to the road due to distractions.

All of the drivers who were ticketed were either talking or texting on their cell phones.

There were three main types of distraction:

-Visual-taking your eyes off the road
-Manual-taking your hands off the wheel
-Cognitive-taking your mind off what you are doing

Solid research shows that distracted drivers are more likely to cause collision and serious injury than impaired drivers.

There are exemptions for using a handheld communication device and they are:

-To contact Police, Fire or EMS Services
-While using it in conjunction with a hands free device (Bluetooth type devices) and
-The phone may be used if all of the following are present:
-The motor vehicle is off the roadway or is lawfully parked on the roadway
-The motor vehicle is not in motion
-The motor vehicle is not impeding traffic.

Motorists are reminded that the offence is committed when the driver holds or uses one of these devices, so therefore checking call logs, emails, or texting are all prohibited.

If you are stopped by officers you could receive a fine of $280.

Do your part to keep our roads safe and keep your eyes and attention focused on the road.