As communities across Canada continue to come to grips with the shock and grief of the Humboldt bus tragedy, motorists are reminded of the need for constant vigilance and caution when on the roadways.
Although the investigation into the cause of the crash that killed 16 on April 6 will no doubt continue for many months to come, the message that safety must be a part of everyday road travel remains as pertinent today as it ever has been.
And a big part of keeping highways and roadways safe is to ensure that everything possible is done to prevent accidents in the first place.
With an average of 1,900 motor vehicle fatalities in Canada every year, each and every effort aimed at reducing preventable mishaps is in everyone’s best interest.
Unfortunately for the safety of drivers and passengers everywhere, impaired and distracted driving remains the cause of many, many completely preventable crashes in rural Alberta and elsewhere.
Mountain View County reeve Bruce Beattie says reducing impaired and distracted driving in this region would benefit the community at large.
“When we meet with the RCMP one of the things we talk about a lot is distracted driving,” said Beattie. “There is a lot of carnage on our roads every day. When we look across the province at how many people are killed and injured by distracted driving, the numbers are sobering.
“And if they were serious about impaired driving then the penalties would be much more severe than they are. We don’t seem to take that issue seriously.”
One possible solution to the problem of distracted driving may be to program hand-held phones to become inoperative when in a moving vehicle, he suggested.
The Humboldt bus tragedy is a stark reminder of the potential dangers associated with any highway or road travel.
As such, all stakeholders, including the various levels of government, should be encouraged to do more to ensure that preventable causes such as impaired and distracted driving are reduced or eliminated from the equation.
- Singleton is the Mountain View Gazette editor
