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Blitz is on â€" but distracted driving charges down in region BY JEREMY GRIMALDI jgrimaldiermgxom At a time when police forces around theGTA are boosting ticket: ing for distracted driving â€" some by more than 1.300 per cent â€" York Regional Police has issued fewer tickets for what it has been labelling the “new drunk driving”. Data obtained by yorkregion. com shows the number of tickets issued for the charge of driving while using a handheld device fell from 5.330 in 2011 to 2,985 in 2013. That information comes as the force teams up with Toronto police and CAA this week to launch a six- week distracted driving campaign. Elsewhere in the GTA. police fomes have dramatically stepped up efiorts, as studies show the extent of the practice and just how danger- ous it can be. Virus West Nile KROEHLER‘ DECOR-:35! tKINGSDOWN the West Nile virus can be passed to humans through the bite of an infected mosquito. Peel officers. for example. laid the charge 1,316 per cent more in 2013 than it didinZOll â€"-â€"5.780. up from 408. Meanwhile. Durham police has more than doubled its enforcement during the same time period. from 1.035 in 2011 to 2.893 in 2013. Earlier this year. Norm Deneault. a Halton officer who was hit by a distracted driver. made headlines after issuing his 3.000th distracted driving ticket in the region. Staff Sgt. Dave Mitchell. from York Regional Police's traffic unit. said part of the decrease in tickets can be attributed to the way the courts were interpreting distracted driving lawa He nefened to a series of court decisions in 2012 that meant ofli- oers needed to prove that phones were on and functioning to find Protect yourself and your family: - Clean up areas of standing water around the house where mosquitoes like to breed - Cover up when you go outside, especially if you go out between dusk and dawn when mosquitoes are most active - Use insect repellent when outdoors For more information on West Nile virus visit www.york.ca/westnile or call York Region )f Health Connection 1â€"800-361-5653, TTY 1-866-252-9933 York Region "017.000 CLASSICS drivers guilty of distracged _ "nl ‘was awe of what I wms sec- Only a year later. that decision was overtumed when a higher court said simply holding a phone was enough for a ticket. “The mindset of handing officers was a wait-andâ€"see approach. like theyweremlegallimbo."hesaid. ‘NEW DRUNK DRMNO' “I can pretty much guarantee that in 208/2014 you'll see a marked inuease in terms of enforcement; it's already happening.” he said. cit- ing 2014 numbers that have already reached 2.815. Mitchell dismissed any sugges- tion that the prevalence of talking or texting while driving is actually fall- ing notingduringthelaunch ofthe blitz mesday. he witnessed olficets ticket 41 people on Steeles Avenue. near Hwy. 404. in a mattet of hours mg'hesakt'Wehadbeenonthe radio and ldeviskm all day telling pmplewequdghgtkflitrdm“ Maybe it shouldn‘t have mm: as such a surprise. though. A recent study. stuwying 100.000 manages. shows more than one third of all grade 10 and l l licensed drivers have mgaga! in texting while (inv- ing. 'lho munber to 46 per cent of licensui drin in Grade 12. York University's [\s‘yt‘hokw pm- fessor David Wisenthal. who studâ€" ies and teaches issues surround. ins mad user behaviour and traffic safety. it appeaus the police in York have altered their fonts on dis- tracted , “I'm they‘re not going after it more vhpmusly." he said. "Driving is very complex and you have to be alert. If you are distracted or paying attention to something else itshouldbeahighpriority. "I am certainly not seeing it decease,” he “As a matter of fact. I've never seen a‘woman 'm a Cadil- lac SUV not on the phone. I think (police) should be firming on it and I wouldn't dose my eyes to it." The York police department maintains that texting while driving is §imilar in potential danger to driv~ ing with a .125 blood alcohol level. which is above the legal limit. Distracted driving charges werv increased to $280 in March and them is a push to hike the penalty to $1,000 and three demerit points According to the Ministry of the Attorney General. 15.439 charges have been laid by York police since 2010 and there have been mom than i 1.000 convictions