Car Crashes and Collisions
on Highway #401 & #416
in Eastern Ontario

 Make a habit of thinking about what calls or texts you need to send before you begin your trip. Before you start the car, take a moment to think about what information you might need during the trip. For instance, program your GPS at the outset, rather than fiddling with it during the drive. Make that call to ask your mom a question before you’re on the road. Text your friend that vital piece of gossip, then put away the phone.

The idea of a designated driver has caught on for drunk driving, and choosing a substitute can be just as useful for distracted driving. Select a friend to be your designated texter while you’re behind the wheel.

Stow your phone somewhere you can’t peek at it. Try putting it in the glove compartment (lock it if you must) or inside a purse in the back seat.

Silence notifications that tempt you to check your phone.

Investigate apps that will help boost your willpower. There are several types of apps on the market, some of them free, that allow you to block incoming messages or send automatic responses to let your friends know you’re driving.

Practice patience. Consider whether it’s worth risking your safety—and that of others in your car and on the road—to read a text while driving. Then wait until you’ve reached your destination.

If you absolutely cannot wait, pull over when you can do so safely. Swerving to the side of a busy highway is never a good option, of course. If you are driving on a road with safe places to pull over, use them to stop and text.

More Causes of Accidents

1. Distracted Drivers

According to Mark Edwards, Director of Traffic Safety at the American Automobile Association, somewhere between 25-50 percent of all motor vehicle crashes in the U.S. are directly related to driver distraction as the root cause of automobile accidents.

These distractions include texting, rubbernecking, or slowing down to observe another accident, accounting for 16 percent of all distraction-related crashes. Cell phone use is a major concern with as many as 85 percent of the estimated 100 million cell-phone users talking on their phone regularly while driving. One study found that driving and talking on a cell phone at the same time quadruples the risk of crashing. Other common driver distractions include:

Driver fatigue (12 percent)

Looking at scenery (10 percent)
Other passengers or children (9 percent)
Adjusting the radio or CD player (7 percent)
Reading the newspaper, books, maps, or other documents (less than 2 percent)

2. Driver Fatigue

According to the U.S. National Traffic Safety Administration, driver fatigue accounts for about 100,000 accidents every year in the United States, with the greatest risk between the hours of 11 p.m. to 8 a.m. when our circadian rhythms tell our bodies it’s time for sleep.

Fatigue drivers experience heavy eyelids, frequent yawning, a vehicle that drifts over road lines, fluctuating vehicle speed, misjudging traffic situations, seeing things “jump out” on the road, feeling fidgety or irritable, and daydreaming.

3. Drunk Driving

Drunk driving in Canada continues to be a leading cause of crashes despite the increased legislation on fines, driver suspensions, and possible jail time, up to 10 years if they cause bodily harm. On July 2, 2008, new Criminal Code provisions on impaired driving came into force in Canada, which gave police better tools to detect and investigate alcohol and drug-impaired driving. These changes increase the maximum sentence to life if the driver causes death and to a maximum 10-year sentence if they cause bodily harm.

Kingston eyes 'Vision Zero' in effort to cut collisions to zero...


4. Aggressive Driving

Transport Canada defines aggressive driving as speeding, running red lights, tailgating, weaving in and out of traffic, and failing to yield the right of way, among other behaviors.