The Ottawa Police are recruiting a small army to help them in their battle against distracted driving.
And some recruits are smaller than others.
The Police Service and its partners are targeting primary and secondary students with the Leave the Phone Alone (LTPA) campaign.
The education and awareness component of the program kicked off today at two local schools. It includes two different kits with age-appropriate materials to teach students about the dangers of distracted driving. They will be rolled out to each of the school boards over the next two years.
Diliksha Fernando is in grade 11 and is just learning how to drive. She admits she wasn’t fully aware of the dangers of texting and driving. Today she helped hand out kits to her peers at Sir Wilfred Laurier Secondary School. “It’s such an important thing to bring out to people, especially in high school,” she says. “Everyone’s learning how to drive soon and it’s becoming more and more of a problem.”
Along with the information kit, students watch a video about distracted driving. Then they are invited to take a pledge to leave the phone alone. Younger children can take the pledge with their whole family and then place a sticker in the windshield of their vehicle.
“We’re hoping that they’re going to take the message back home and talk to their parents,” says Sgt. Denis Hull, coordinator of the LTPA campaign. “Or, if they’re in a vehicle while their parents are actually texting or talking on the phone, they’ll speak up.”
