Yes, we can see you! Updated

I found this YouTube video that offers a very eloquent message directed to teen drivers.

- David

Posted on http://drivesafeblog.com/

Really! You’re not fooling anyone.

If you are talking or texting on your cell phone while driving, people can tell.

Hardly anyone drives while holding one hand to their ear, or staring down into their crotch.

The real tell-tale sign, though, is when the light turns green and you don’t notice for five or ten seconds – or longer – or until the driver behind you hits the horn. (Or worse, when you don't notice the vehicle stopped at the red light and you plow into the back of it.)

Using a cell phone or other hand-held electronic device while driving has been illegal for just over two years, and yet there seems to be a serious problem with compliance for Sault drivers.

I see drivers using their phones – either talking or texting – on a daily basis.

My driving students are always astonished at how many drivers we spot during our 90-minute lessons.

Many of the offenders are themselves younger drivers, drivers who know the law but choose to ignore it. Unfortunately,  the same can also be said for older drivers.

The City Police have conducted a few blitzes, and patrol officers catch about four offenders per week.

The problem is that, for many people, something is only “illegal” if you get caught, and not enough people are getting caught.

I’ve said this before: there is not enough enforcement of our traffic laws. I understand how, given limited resources, Police priorities are focused on responding to crimes with more immediate consequences: assaults, break-ins, theft, etc.

That being said, the lack of enforcement results in a reactive response to traffic-related issues – collisions – rather than proactive, preventative approaches.

Of course, if people would just stop considering themselves above the law and actually obey them, we wouldn’t need enforcement.

It’s not just cell phones, but when added to the mix cell phones are making our roads very unsafe!

I have lost count of how many drivers have cut me off, holding a cell phone to one ear with one hand, holding a coffee/donut/whatever while making a left turn in front of me.

"It's okay, I can multi-task."

I have had occasion to be stopped at a red light beside a driver who is talking on their cell phone. I look over and point at them, make a “on-the-phone” gesture, and then mime hanging-up. Typically the reaction is anger, often including an obscene gesture.

Of course, you don’t have to be using your phone to be a bad driver.

Just yesterday I was in the left lane on Church Street, waiting for the light to change to cross Wellington. I watched as a woman in an SUV stopped in the middle of the intersection with her left turn signal flashing.

All three lanes of Church Street were occupied; aside from the “ONE WAY” arrow sign, there was obviously no open lane for her to drive in. And yet, when the oncoming traffic had cleared the intersection she proceeded to make a left turn, heading straight for me.

I hit the horn, flashed my high beams, and prepared to take evasive action. She realized her error, in time, and managed to turn her left turn into a U-turn, heading back the way she came.

As she did this she made what, at the time, I interpreted as a rather angry gesture. Perhaps she was just confused.

I take my students through the maze of one-way – two-way streets in the Wellington-Gore-Andrew Streets neighbourhood, cautioning them to always check both directions for oncoming vehicles.

A few years back, while walking down Wellington at Gloucester, I stopped a driver who was heading the wrong way on Gloucester, and attempting to turn right to head the wrong way on Wellington.

He was from out-of-town, and got confused in that rat’s nest of prohibited turns.

But even locals occasionally make a wrong turn, and can head the wrong way.

Studies have shown that drivers who are distracted by using their cell phones, or even GPS units, are four times more likely to be involved in a collision, and 25% of drivers involved in collisions have been found to be using their cell phones.

[lol no im nt bsy im only drving]

The CAA has an interesting “Distracted Driving” simulator, that you can access here.

It allows you to select a driving environment (residential, urban, freeway), weather conditions, speed, and type of distraction, and provides reference measurements for the distance you will travel while distracted (ie: by answering your cell phone) – given in metres, as well as the number of houses, or the number of parked cars you will pass while attending to the distraction.

One can only hope that, like drinking and driving, that more people will get the message about distracted driving: It’s DANGEROUS!

But… that’s just my opinion.