Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I’d like to make my statement on distracted driving.
Mr. Speaker, distracted driving is nothing new. We like to associate it with texting and talking on cell phones, but when I was a kid growing up and we went on a road trip with our family, I can hardly believe my father wasn’t distracted with five screaming kids in the backseat of the station wagon and occasionally had to reach his arm around and give a few of us a little discipline, shall we say.
Back in those days, also, Mr. Speaker, they had bench seats in vehicles in the front, and I often used to ask my dad why it took two people to drive that vehicle, because people would be sitting so close together, so cosy on that front seat. Hard to believe those people weren’t distracted.
Distracted driving is not a new concept. However, Mr. Speaker, we had a motion come forward from this side of the House in a previous sitting and I was the swing vote, and I did not support the motion to recommend to our government that they institute, that they develop a legislative proposal to put in place a deterrent, a legal deterrent for people to be texting or talking on cell phones or handheld devices while they were driving a vehicle.
Mr. Speaker, although my name is Jane and I am a distracted driver…
---Laughter
…I am here today to say that if that vote were taken again today, I would have to support that initiative from this side of the House.
Mr. Speaker, just the other day I was driving down Franklin Avenue, and I thought this could not happen to me, but I was texting while driving and I almost rear ended a vehicle in front of me. I really pride myself in being a multi-tasker and I thought that it’s only other people who couldn’t do this, like my husband, who is painful to watch him even text, never mind drive and text, and I thought that I was very good at texting with that one hand and that would never happen to me. However, Mr. Speaker, it gave me quite a scare and I do think that we, as a government, need to do the responsible thing and bring forward, in a timely manner, legislation that would fine and penalize people from texting and speaking on cell phones while they are driving, and bring this into effect as soon as possible. Thank you.
