Students in Grade 3 at Roberts Creek Elementary, along with ICBC and the Sunshine Coast RCMP, will be taking part in a distracted driving campaign that will send drivers a stronger message than any ticket ever could.
The students have each drawn their own picture of something related to themselves, their school, or traffic safety. During the morning hours, youth liaison officer Const. Kyle Hrynyk and other RCMP officers will set up in the school zone outside Roberts Creek Elementary, watching for people using their cell phones, speeding, or committing other traffic violations.
When drivers are stopped, instead of receiving a ticket they will be presented with a hand-drawn card from one of the students, with the message, “Think of me. Leave your phone alone.”
“More than 800 crashes occur every day in B.C., many of these caused by distracted driving,” said Harvey Kooner, local ICBC safety coordinator. “No call or text is worth the risk. Distracted driving is a dangerous and preventable behaviour that we must all commit to ending.”
A picture drawn by a third-grader might be what it takes to really think twice next time before picking up their phone to read that text message.
– Sunshine Coast RCMP
