There will be no more juggling of cheeseburgers while behind the wheel for MD of Foothills employees after council cracked down on distracted driving.
Foothills MD council approved a distracted driving policy at its regular meeting on Jan. 26. The move is a preemptive one explained Foothills municipal manager Harry Riva Cambrin as the MD looks to prepare for the implementation of provincial distracted driving legislation later this year.
“As that legislation comes into affect we already want to have clear direction to our employees regarding certain driving practices,” Cambrin said. “We want to make sure they know it’s okay from an MD perspective to ask for a hands free phone device or understand the importance of pulling over so you’re not talking on your cell phone or eating when you’re driving.”
Bill 16, Alberta’s Distracted Driving Legislation, received royal assent on Dec. 2, 2010 and could be in effect by the middle of 2011. The proposed fine for the new offence is $172. The upcoming law makes it illegal to talk on hand held cell phones, send text messages or e-mails, read printed materials, write notes, enter information on GPS units, use a laptop or video game, or do personal grooming while operating a vehicle.
The new Foothills MD policy covers these areas and has an additional provision, Cambrin said, specifically targeted at eating and driving.
“Taking a look at our policy, we didn’t include drinking, so people can still have their cup of coffee, but it was felt that eating a sandwich or a burger or something like that is not a good idea,” he said.
Cambrin explained the MD currently has about 15 employees who are almost continually in their vehicles during work hours and another 40 or 50 who have to drive some days and not others in the performance of their duties.
The policy applies to all MD employees and disciplinary action for violating the new policy will be stiff including termination.
Michel Savard, director of public works and engineering for the MD, said he doesn’t foresee anyone trying to resist the policy.
“The employees need to recognize this is the way it is,” he said. “This is not something new that’s just been dumped on us. We’re all aware of this and we know it’s coming to the province as legislation.”
Savard, who is often behind the wheel during working hours, still sees communication devices as the most serious potential distraction on Alberta roads.
“You see individuals on their cell phones all the time,” he said. “That’s the big one. That’s the one that really needs to be corrected. I am finding myself having to change my habits so it’s always when a phone call comes in it’s, ‘sorry, you’re going to voice mail.’”
Is the MD policy in effect immediately??
