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Stetski engages Invermere youth
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On Friday, July 31st, Barry Milliner of Calgary made the most of the summer heat with a few passengers — Jessica, Lexi and Milliner — along for the ride at Kinsmen Beach. The importance of wearing lifejackets while recreating on rivers and lakes cannot be emphasized enough. See page 7 for the most recent B.C. drowning statistics. PHOTO BY BREANNE MASSEY
BERNIE RAVEN CHRIS RAVEN 1-866-598-7415 TEAMRAVEN.CA Offices in Panorama, Invermere & Fairmont
Foundation 3 Community gives back to students
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Maxwell Realty Invermere
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Local crackdown on distracted driving eyed STEVE HUBRECHT steve@invermerevalleyecho.com The proliferation of mobile communication devices in the past decade has made communications easier, but is also making the roads increasingly more dangerous — a trend B.C. residents are concerned about, according to a recent provincial government consultation. The provincial Ministry of Justice wrapped up its four-week public consultation on distracted driving last week, receiving more than 10,000 submissions, many of them heartfelt and with strong opinions, and most of them pointing to phones and other mobile devices as a significant problem. “It’s on the rise here in the valley. We’re seeing more and more of it. It’s pretty bad,” said Columbia Valley RCMP Staff Sergeant Marko Shehovac. “People just don’t seem to get it, that it’s not a smart thing to do. Probably the only way they
will get it is if they (the provincial gov- most any electronic device, in your ernment) increase the fines or allow us hands, that constitutes distracted drivto impound vehicles.” ing,” said Mr. Shehovac, adding that alThe current fine for distracted driving though the Motor Vehicle Act contains in B.C. is $167 and three penalty points exemptions for police officers, allowtaken off the offender’s driver’s licence. ing them to, for instance, talk to the “It’s getting to the point where soon victim of a domestic abuse incident on we might have to do a blitz, go down- the phone while driving to the scene, town and ticket evhe still encouragIf you have an erybody we catch. es his staff to pull We are contemelectronic device... in over to the side of plating that kind the road when usyour hand, that constitutes of crackdown. It’s ing mobile devices (distracted driving) distracted driving. in all cases except STAFF SGT. MARKO SHEHOVAC certainly a cause emergencies. COLUMBIA VALLEY RCMP for accidents. In Mr. Shehovac told that respect it’s right up there with im- The Echo that just the previous week paired driving,” said Mr. Shehovac. he had been sitting in a marked police Distracted driving is more than sim- cruiser at an intersection in Invermere ply talking on a phone — it encom- and watched as a woman drove right passes texting, fiddling with iPods or through while chatting on her phone, even simply using a phone to check completely oblivious to the fact that a what time it is. police officer was even there, until he “If you have an electronic device, al- pulled her over.
“How much more distracted does it get? I was sitting right there in plain view and she didn’t have a clue I was there. They are increasingly finding that when people are talking on their phones, their minds are not on the driving. This woman I stopped is living proof of that,” he said. Mr. Shehovac said that because B.C. had distracted driving laws before Alberta, in the past some Alberta drivers would plead ignorance when pulled over for such an offence, but now that both provinces have similar laws, that excuse just doesn’t wash. The consultation carried out by the Ministry of Justice found that more than 90 per cent of the 10,000 submissions respondents said they were concerned about distracted driving, that more than 90 per cent of respondents felt distracted driving fines should increase and that 96 per cent of respondents See A9
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Celebrating 100 years