Distracted driver faces charge after striking youngster
A driver who was paying more attention to her cell phone than the road in front of her nearly ran over a child in the Qwanlin Mall parking lot Thursday and will now face criminal charges.
A driver who was paying more attention to her cell phone than the road in front of her nearly ran over a child in the Qwanlin Mall parking lot Thursday and will now face criminal charges.
Just after 10 a.m., a mother was walking through the parking lot toward the Staples store with her three-year-old son in tow.
As the pair started to cross the roadway in front of the store entrance, the mother noticed the car coming toward them was not slowing down.
She saw the driver of the oncoming Nissan Sentra was talking on her cell phone, Whitehorse RCMP reported this morning, and did not appear to see the pedestrians.
The mother yelled at the driver to stop as her young son stepped out onto the road ahead of her.
The driver hit the child with her car, throwing him to the ground. She stopped when she felt the impact.
An ambulance was called and the child was examined on the scene.
He did not suffer any physical injuries, according to police, and did not need to be taken to Whitehorse General Hospital.
"We are extremely fortunate that this had a happy outcome, and drivers need to be reminded that they have a responsibility to operate a vehicle in a safe manner,” RCMP spokesman Sgt. Don Rogers said this morning.
"This includes not being distracted by cell phones, iPods, radios or other devices.”
The 44-year-old driver, whose name was not released, stayed on the scene and co-operated with police, he said.
She now faces charges of driving without due care and attention.
Comments (10)
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francias pillman on Jan 25, 2010 at 10:29 am
Its rather sad that people beg for the government to step in and tell them to do something that is common sense. Seriously give your heads a shake.
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Anonymous on Jan 25, 2010 at 10:18 am
We defiantly need a law that stops people holding a cell phone while driving, unfourtunatly it won't happen until or RCMP have stopped doing that themselves.
For Nick - I agree we should be able to extract harsher punishments for driving with a cell phone but you cannot check the phone to see if they were on it at the time due to the blue tooth capability where you can be on your phone but talking through your stereo system, and your phone will still register that you were on your phone.
Also if you really look at most things with BC laws, just give it a year or 2 and we will copy the BC law for ourselves so if BC has a law to stop Cell use while driving starting in Feb. 2010 we will to sooner than later
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bobby bitman on Jan 25, 2010 at 8:56 am
Um, yes Jeff the insurance companies do say women are better drivers, IF they are under a certain age and statistically it's true. It's not actually 'lol' funny. It's too bad so many young men are too hormonal and out of control to drive safely. However, the discrimination that the good young male drivers face is something that I am surprised stands up under human rights. Statistically there might be many groups that are less risky than others, but are people allowed to brand all within that group with the same brush?
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Vancity Girl on Jan 24, 2010 at 8:39 am
As of Feb 1st 2010 If you are caught driving in BC with a Cell phone you will get a hefty fine...Why not take that law into effect in your province ! Majority of accidents are because of Cell Phones..Talking and texting ! Pull over for heavens sake and then make your call...She's Lucky that little boy wasn't seriously injured ! Shame on you for being an irresponsible driver !
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Nick on Jan 24, 2010 at 6:54 am
Any one involved in an accident should have their cellphone checked to see if they were using it at time of accident Charges should reflect danger of use of these distractions
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soldierpiper on Jan 24, 2010 at 2:03 am
Sadly this is starting to become very normal,drivers yapping on phones ,texting etc.while operating their vehicles not paying attention are just as dangerous as a drunk or stoned driver.The penalties should be severe as in points loss,heavy fine & drivers suspension & jail time.A slap on the wrist is no deterant ,the govt should ban these things all together.
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Brandy on Jan 23, 2010 at 6:39 am
IF YOU'RE ON THE PHONE, PULL OVER!!!!!!!!! It's bad enough people drive on the roads talking on their phones, this idiot was in a freakin PARKING LOT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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soldierpiper on Jan 22, 2010 at 10:22 pm
Driver,s using cell phones & texting messages while operating their vehicles are becoming more & more common place these days.They are as dangerous as a drunk driver & severe penalties such as hefty fines & jail time might help stop this reckless practice.
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JC on Jan 22, 2010 at 2:52 pm
I see so many people talking on their cell phones while driving. Most truckers do it too. Out of four I saw the other day, three were talking on their cell phones with one hand on the wheel. Its time to enact a territorial law against talking on a cell phone while driving. Hit them hard when they go to court. Don't spare the mercy.
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jeff on Jan 22, 2010 at 1:53 pm
and insurance companies say women are the better drivers ??? lol