Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In January I read a GNWT press release that indicated that 2011 is the National Year of Road Safety. As part of the press release, our Minister of Transportation stated that the NWT traffic collision statistics are on a 20-year downward trend. That’s good news, but society is still plagued by people who drive with their judgment impaired or distracted by alcohol, by eating, through inattention to the roads, by kids in the back seat, and my pet peeve, talking on cell phones or texting with them.
The Department of Transportation has run a safe driving campaign for a number of years now, a program called Drive Alive. The campaign slogan for 2011 is: Safety is No Accident. The campaign seems to be working, because our traffic collision statistics are going down and I’m most happy to report that there is a shift in the focus of the Drive Alive program for this year.
For 2011 the number one Drive Alive initiative will be a pledge campaign intended to reduce the number of people using their cell phones while driving. This campaign, called Leave the Phone Alone, specifically targets drivers who use their phone while driving. It’s an easy task; a simple on-line pledge which takes only a few moments and then the pledgee gets a reward for this action: a sticker for your car window to proclaim your Leave the Phone Alone commitment to everyone who looks at your car.
I have taken the pledge and I look forward to seeing many more pledge stickers -- including Mrs. Groenewegen’s -- like mine on NWT vehicles. I want to congratulate the Minister and the department for putting the pledge initiative in place.
If I’m happy with the pledge campaign -- and I am -- then I’m overjoyed that the Department of Transportation will soon introduce amendments to the Motor Vehicles Act; amendments which will legislate penalties for distracted drivers and ban the use of cell phones while driving. I am so glad that the Minister has finally seen the light and that this change is coming forward. As I’ve said many times before, it will create safer NWT roads and provide protection for our residents.
I will have some questions for the Minister of Transportation at the appropriate time.
Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. The honourable Member for Great Slave, Mr. Abernethy.
