Hundreds of charges have been laid following the OPP West Region's "Stay Focused" campaign to crack down on inattentive driving.
Ontario Provincial Police officers laid 232 charges under Ontario's distracted driving law and issued 84 warnings during the campaign that ran March 1 to April 4.
The charges included 27 in Essex County, the third most in the West Region.
Distracted or inattentive driving covers everything from adjusting a vehicle's entertainment system or GPS unit or stereo, eating and drinking, using a hand-held communication or hand-held entertainment device, self-grooming, or tending to children in the back seat.
OPP West Region Media Relations Coordinator, Derek Rogers, says people need to dedicate their full attention when behind the wheel.
"The message remains the same no matter where you happen to be, and that is to dedicate your full attention to the task of driving," he says. "Driving does demand your full attention, and there's a lot riding on it, no pun intended. Your own safety and the safety of others around you, and the safety of those individuals who happen to be your passengers."
In 2024, 45 drivers lost their lives in the OPP West Region in crashes attributed to inattentive driving, compared to 15 deaths in 2023, a 200 per cent increase in just one year.
In the OPP-patrolled areas of Essex County, there were four deaths attributed to inattentive driving in 2024 and two in 2023.
Rogers says they don't gauge the success of this campaign by the number of charges.
"We would gauge it through a reduction in negative behaviour behind the wheel. So that's really ultimately what the goal is when it comes to traffic safety, to change that kind of behaviour that leads to tragic, needless, and preventable death," he says.
Drivers also need to be aware that using a handheld communication or entertainment device while stopped at a traffic light, stop sign, or when stopped in traffic for any reason is also a distracted driving offence.
Distracted driving fines can be as high as a thousand dollars if convicted, and the charge also includes a three-day driving suspension.