According to Surrey’s Karen Bowman, who founded a distracted-driving prevention organization called Drop It And Drive (DIAD), the two year old ban of B.C on using hand-held electronic devices while driving isn’t working.
Bowman, who founded DIAD in September 2010, said: “I can’t leave my house and not see more people than I can count texting or phoning while driving.”
Earlier that month, she witnessed parents drinking coffee and texting and talking on their cellphones even though the legislation was already in force.
“I felt that as parents we should have a higher standard of behaviour and should look out for our kids and not be doing this,” she said. “I wanted to do something to raise awareness.”
In B.C. there were 279 driving fatalities from Jan. 1, 2011 to Nov. 29. Thirty-five per cent were attributed to distracted driving, she said. “One death’s too many. Last year we had 96,” she said.