Thursday, 19 November 2015

Sgt. Butler of the RCMP Talks About Road Safety With EOV

Joey (Q): How can islanders decrease the amount of yearly vehicle accidents?

Sgt. Butler (A): Here on PEI we have four main problems that we concentrate on and those problems usually contribute to most of the collisions that we have. We like to call them collisions instead of accidents because quite often an accident is something that just happens but with a collision usually there is something behind it, someone is speeding (also called aggressive driving), not wearing seat-belts, using a hand-held device (also called a cell phone) and our biggest problem on PEI is impaired driving or driving while drinking.

Joni (Q): Is there a right or a wrong way to wear your seat-belt?

Sgt. Butler (A ): That is an excellent question because, yes, there is a proper way to wear your seat-belt and some people like to wear it the improper way. To wear your seat-belt (and we can still give a ticket for only having it half on) the proper way, if it's the belts that we call the 'two system' they go around your waste and over your shoulder. It must be over your shoulder and buckled in. You can't put it behind your arm because that is an improper way to wear it and it's unsafe for the wearer. So people need to remember that we can fine somebody if they are wearing it the wrong way.

Joey (Q): What is the most common excuse given by drivers for texting while driving?

Sgt. Butler (A): We don't like to see any excuses because here on PEI it's a very serious problem. A lot of people are using hand-held devices to text or read their E-mail. We don't give warnings for that. We only give tickets. I think that a lot of people do it because its such a habit to have your phone in your hand all the time and also people are always in a hurry. If they want to use their phone they have to pull over to the side of the road and completely stop before using your phone.

Joni (Q): How many (approximately) are fined yearly on PEI yearly for texting?

Sgt. Butler (A): I don't have the numbers with me but it is an increasing problem. We have seen over the last number of years that people are 'texting and driving' more and more. We don't give any warnings. We must give a ticket and the ticket is very expensive. We have the highest fine anywhere in Canada. It's $500.00 dollars for texting or using your phone plus an additional $75.00 which is on every ticket,so, its $575.00 fine.

Joey (Q): How many (approximately) are fined yearly on P E I for not wearing their Seat belts

Sgt. Butler (A): I was very surprised in the last number of years to see how many people are not wearing their seat-belts. This year on PEI we have had 19 fatalities and I can tell you that in at least 6, if not 7 of those fatalities, not wearing seat-belts was an contributing factor. That's still a high number of people that don't wear them.

Joni (Q): Can you be fined for texting while driving your bicycle?

Sgt. Butler (A): That's a good question. If you are on a peddle bike,no, but any motorized Vehicle you can't use your hand-held device. That would include tractors that may go on the road. Any vehicle that is motorized and on a roadway on PEI can be fined.

Joey (Q): How are you folks raising awareness regarding texting and seat-belt use?

Sgt. Butler (A): We do a lot of Media interviews just like this so that people who put out articles help us educate others. There is signage on the roads coming onto the island that tell people that they are going to be fined if they don't wear their seat-belts and we try to include it in the various reports that we do. If there is a collision and they didn't have their seat-belts on, we tell the people. So we try to educate with Media Releases and we also have Twitter and Facebook accounts.



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