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www.insideHALTON.com | OAKVILLE BEAVER | Friday, March 20, 2015 | 6 Death by distraction With distracted driving fatalities in Ontario on pace to surpass impaired driving deaths for the seventh consecutive year, it's clear the punishment in this province for inattentive motorists is not providing the deterrent be tting the seriousness of the crime. According to the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP), which launched a distracted driving enforcement campaign (March 14-20), it has already investigated 12 distracted driving deaths in the rst 10 weeks of 2015. Driver inattentiveness was a causal factor in 12 -- or nearly one-quarter -- of this year's 51 fatal collisions. In ve of the 12 distracted driving deaths (41 per cent), it was the distracted driver who died, while in two more cases innocent drivers paid with their lives for another driver's lack of attention. Three of this year's distracted driving deaths involved pedestrians being struck and killed by vehicles operated by distracted drivers. "Distracted driving is a danger to all road users. We want to see everyone develop and maintain a complete intolerance for distracted driving and make it the socially-unacceptable driving behaviour it should be," said Chief Supt. Chuck Cox, commander of the OPP Highway Safety Division. Ontarians have been down this road before with impaired driving and it took years of enacting tougher laws and altering society's previously casual view of drunk driving to nally have an impact on our roads. We need the learning curve among motorists to be shorter and societal intolerance toward distracted driving stronger in order to see fatality numbers decline in the short term. While vehicles operated by impaired or distracted drivers become equally dangerous weapons with the potential to kill people, the punishments can be miles apart. In Ontario, a rst conviction for impaired driving carries a mandatory alcohol education/treatment program, a minimum one-year ignition interlock, a $1,000 ne and a licence suspension for up to a year. Being caught and convicted of driving while texting, talking, typing, dialing or emailing using a hand-held communication device or electronic entertainment device currently carries a total ne of $280, if settled out of court. There is no automatic licence suspension and no demerit points. While Ontario and Alberta remain the only Canadian provinces not to include demerit points as a deterrent to distracted driving, that may soon change. Ontario's Bill 31, which is currently under consideration by a standing committee on general government, seeks to increase nes to a range between $300-$1,000 and add three demerit points for each distracted driving infraction. We'll have to see if it's enough to nally get the attention of distracted drivers. Editorial C L A S S A C T "Connected to your Community" 5046 Mainway, Unit 2, Burlington ON, L7L 5Z1 General Inquiries: (905) 845-3824 Editorial Department: (905) 845-3824 Classi ed Advertising: (905) 632-4440 Circulation: 5300 Harvester Rd., Burlington (905) 631-6095 Volume 53 | Number 23 The Oakville Beaver is a division of Editorial and advertising content of the Oakville Beaver is protected by copyright. Unauthorized use is prohibited. Vice­President and Group Publisher of Metroland West Regional General Manager Halton Region Editor in Chief Advertising Director NEIL OLIVER DAVID HARVEY JILL DAVIS DANIEL BAIRD Managing Editor ANGELA BLACKBURN RIZIERO VERTOLLI Dr. Shawn Vasdev speaks at the May Court Club of Oakville's recently-held annual Cap and Gown Scholarship fundraising dinner at the Harbour Banquet and Conference Centre. Vasdev, a recipient of the scholarship in 1996, is a psychiatrist and spoke about how the May Court's bursary helped him in his career path. The recently-held event saw more than 80 people in attendance and raised $18,339. For more than 40 years, the local May Court chapter has assisted local youths with their post-secondary education with its scholarship program. In 2014, $68,000 in scholarship funding was given to 42 Oakville students -- 28 were high school graduates and 14 were previous recipients, as the program continues to support its recipients throughout their rst degree providing they continue to meet the criteria. The May Court Scholarship Program has awarded more than $600,000 since 1959. For more information, visit www. maycourt.ca. | submitted photo Photography Director Business Manager Director of Production SANDY PARE MARK DILLS MANUEL GARCIA Production Manager Director of Distribution CHARLENE HALL KIM MOSSMAN Circulation Manager Larger signs could serve to alert motorists of changing speed limit Much ado is being made lately by Halton Regional Police about the speeders on Dundas Street near Trafalgar Road. I am certainly not condoning speeding of any sort, but I must point out that Dundas Street from Brant Street in Burlington to Dundas Street near Hwy. 403 is badly signed. It goes through several different speed zones, from 60 km/h to 80 km/h and back to 60 km/h. These zones change rapidly. Cruising along at 80 km/h and suddenly entering a 60 km/h zone can be missed. There should be bigger speed limit signs and bigger signs indicating a change in speed limit to alert motorists. Or, perhaps consider making the entire stretch a 70 km/h zone. Bill Sholdice, Mississauga Letter to the Editor Proud Official Media Sponsor For: Canadian Circulations Audit Board Member Recognized for Excellence by Ontario Community Newspapers Association Canadian Community Newspapers Association Proud Official Media Sponsor For: Agree? Disagree? Have your say There's lots going on in Oakville -- and beyond. And much of it is covered in the pages of this newspaper and online at insidehalton.com. If you have an opinion on a story or current event, we would love to hear from you. Letters can be sent to the editor for her consideration at ablackburn@oakvillebeaver. com or mailed to Editor, Oakville Beaver, 5046 Mainway, Unit 2, Burlington, ON, L7L 5Z1. Writers must include their name, address and phone number. The Oakville Beaver welcomes letters from its readers. Letters will be edited for clarity, length, legal considerations and grammar. In order to be published all letters must contain the name, address and phone number of the author. Letters should be addressed to: The Editor, Oakville Beaver, 5046 Mainway, Unit 2, Burlington ON L7L 5Z1 or via email to; ablackburn@oakvillebeaver.com. The Beaver reserves the right to refuse to publish a letter. The Oakville Beaver is a member of the Ontario Press Council. The council is located at 80 Gould St., Suite 206, Toronto, Ont., M5B 2M7. Phone 416-340-1981. Advertising is accepted on the condition that, in the event of a typographical error, that portion of advertising space occupied by the erroneous item, together with a reasonable allowance for signature, will not be charged for, but the balance of the advertisement will be paid for at the applicable rate. The publisher reserves the right to categorize advertisements or decline.