Ottawa Police have laid more than one million dollars' worth of fines this year for distracted driving.
Since the beginning of the year, the Traffic Escort and Enforcement Team have laid two thousand, one hundred and eighty-seven charges related to cell phones while driving.
One officer alone has issued 617 fines.
When you consider each fine is worth $490, that's a lot of money over the course of the year.
But police say they'd be happier laying no charges; they just want people to get the message: lay off the phone when you're driving.
Ottawa driver Thandie Dunlop waits until she's safely stopped before picking up her cellphone. It carries a hefty fine but that's not the main reason she follows the rules.
“I think it's dangerous to talk on phone and drive at same time,” says Dunlop.
If you're caught, it will cost you $490 and three demerit points.
“If that's what it takes for people not to use their cellphones,” says driver Caroline Forster, “as long as it works.”
But is it working? The Ottawa Police Traffic Escort and Enforcement Unit have laid a whack of cellphone charges since the beginning of the year: 2,187 charges which equates to almost eight a day. That works out to more than one million dollars in city revenue.
Those numbers, by the way, are just from the 22 members of that traffic enforcement unit. It doesn't include any other charges laid by any other police units.
“It's just not getting through to people,” says a frustrated Sergeant Mark Gatien, with the Traffic Escort and Enforcement Unit, “we could go at any time and do a blitz and get 20 charges an hour, no problem.”
Blitzes like the one today in Kanata, aimed at getting suspended drivers off the road. Our interview with Sergeant Robert Cairns with the Ottawa Police Escort and Traffic Support Services is interrupted mid-sentence. Cairns has been at the forefront in operating the Automated License Plate Recognition vehicle (ALPR) with the Ottawa Police. The ALPR picks up two hits going northbound on Hazeldean. The suspended drivers in those vehicles will face fines as well.
“It is purely to make the roads safer within Ottawa,” Cairns says, though some drivers don't believe that.
“I don't see the problem,” says one driver, commenting on the cellphone fines and license plate reader, “I think it's just a money grab by the cops.”
But Sergeant Gatien says it is not the money; it's the message: put the phone down before someone dies.
“I would be happy if they(the fines) were $5 and people stopped using their phones but unfortunately we have to raise the stakes so people are afraid to use their phones.”
