Local police don’t think it’s necessary to increase distracted driving fines even more.
On Tuesday the fines were doubled to $280 but the liberals tabled a new bill Monday to see them increase to $1000 with three demerit points. Timmins Police Chief John Gauthier says this is possibly an initiative the provincial government is taking in steps hoping more and more people will comply.
He says the same thing happened with seatbelts. Gauthier says he sees less and less tickets being issued for people not wearing seat belts so clearly people have got their minds around putting on their seatbelts before they even start their vehicle.
Gauthier says increasing fines bit by bit still drives the point home that distracted driving is very important and at least puts it on peoples minds.
Currently, Gauthier says they’re seeing more and more accidents attributed to distracted driving. In fact, the OPP says distracted drivers now cause more deaths each year than drunk drivers.