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Motorcycle texter a textbook case in distracted driving, police say
By Marty Klinkenberg, Edmonton Journal August 13, 2012
EDMONTON - Just when they thought they had seen everything, Edmonton police Sunday came across a man texting while riding a motorcycle.
About 8:45 p.m., officers saw the two-wheeled texter near 41st Avenue and 44th Street in Mill Woods. Police attempted to get him to pull over but he fled, and three blocks later lost control and ran into an oncoming vehicle.
The motorcyclist fled on foot, but was later tracked down through the bike — a Suzuki 1300 GSX — he left behind.
Wayne Aucoin, 43, of Edmonton, was charged with criminal flight, criminal hit and run, disqualified driving and other offences, including distracted driving. “It was a very dangerous situation,” Staff Sgt. Barry Maron of the traffic section said Monday outside police headquarters. “Our officers have seen some pretty ridiculous things, including people trying to read while driving and a person using their knees to steer a vehicle while eating a bowl of cereal. “But I think this takes the cake.”
Maron said Edmonton police have issued 3,500 tickets in the 11 months since distracted driving laws went into effect. Regulations make it illegal to drive and send text messages or talk on a cellphone without use of a hands-free device. Violators receive a $172 fine.
As Maron spoke, a man behind him in a white truck was texting while sitting in traffic.
“We had a huge media event last September when the law was enacted and people took notice at the time, but eventually they fell back into their bad habits,” Maron said after arriving in a blue pickup with the words Driving? Don’t Text painted on its side. “I think people don’t understand the consequences.
“They try it once or twice and get away with it, and then think it’s all right.”
On the first day the law went into effect last year, Maron said, Edmonton police stopped a driver eating a bowl of noodles with one hand and trying to steer with the other. Since then, they have also caught drivers with newspapers spread across the steering wheel, applying makeup and watching a movie on a DVD player set up on the dash.
“If there is something stupid, people have done it,” Maron said.
Calling it an “epidemic,” RCMP Staff Sgt. Shawn Lemay said people need to be reminded about the dangers of distracted driving.
“I had a guy nearly side-swipe me as he was texting last week,” said Lemay, a communications and media relations officer for K Division in Edmonton.
“His head was down for more than a kilometre as he drove, texting and trying to steer with his knees at the same time.
“He was oblivious to everyone on the road around him.”