OTTOWA-The Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association has launched Focus on Driving, an interactive Web site to raise awareness of the risks associated with driver distraction.
The Web site, http://www.focusondriving.ca, features an interactive quiz and offers visitors an opportunity to learn about responsible driving strategies to minimize the risks associated with various driver distractions. The quiz covers all driver distractions, including use of wireless devices.
“Countless lives are needlessly lost on our roads every year due to distracted drivers,” said Armand La Barge, regional police chief of York and president of the Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police. “Canada’s wireless industry continues, through the CWTA, to greatly assist police services in our efforts to promote good driving habits. The new Focus On Driving Web site is a welcome tool in promoting traffic safety in Ontario.”
“The wireless industry has always made driver education a key component of communications to our customers,” said Peter Barnes, chief executive and president of CWTA. “Continuing to educate drivers about all sources of distraction, in combination with the full enforcement of provincial `driving without due care and attention’ and `careless driving’ laws across the country, is the key to making and keeping our roadways safe.”
The CWTA said that driver distraction is a serious issue that encompasses a broad range of potential distractions, including eating, drinking, reading, writing, grooming, minding children, conversing with passengers, using a wireless device, smoking, adjusting in-car stereos and electronics, and minding pets. Furthermore, the CWTA said research shows that it is an aggregate of all distractions that pose a risk to motorists, and that the responsibility of operating any vehicle in a responsible manner ultimately lies with the individual driver.
The CWTA represents wireless carriers and vendors in Canada.
Studies, including those sponsored by the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, have found cell-phone use while driving increasing the risk of having a wreck. Still, other data suggests hands-free devices do not improve the situation. Several U.S. cities and states and have banned drivers from using wireless devices while driving.
