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Police across province to stage blitzes each month

Police across the province were on the lookout even more than usual for drivers talking or texting while driving on Thursday and Friday.



Police across the province were on the lookout even more than usual for drivers talking or texting while driving on Thursday and Friday.

The two-day blitz, called Operation HandsFree, was the first of a new, province-wide co-ordinated approach to traffic safety created after a meeting of all traffic enforcement units in the province.

"By having all communities participate at the same time, these targeted blitzes will help SGI and law enforcement raise the profile of this and other traffic safety issues," said Andrew Cartmell, President and CEO of SGI.

Each month, weather permitting, a provincial blitz will be held targeting a particular traffic safety issue. In the past, traffic blitzes were left up to individual traffic units throughout the province. The new, co-ordinated approach has been endorsed by the Saskatchewan Association of Chiefs of Police (SACP) and SGI.

"We're very happy to be supporting this. We've seen collisions where cellphone use and other traffic safety violations were a factor and feel it's good to have a targeted, province-wide approach," said Chief Dale McFee, President of SACP.

Last year in Saskatchewan there were almost 8,500 collisions due to distracted driving, resulting in over 2,300 injuries and 60 deaths. SGI's traffic safety research shows the vast majority of the Saskatchewan public (about 92 per cent) view talking or texting while driving as a major problem that is happening more frequently.