The RNC and RCMP are cracking down on dangerous driving on the province’s roadways, and part of that is educating the public on what exactly constitutes distracted driving.

Yesterday, both police forces teamed up for an enforcement blitz on the TCH near Butterpot Park. 140 tickets were issued, including two for drivers nabbed at over 160 km/h.

The blitz was spurred by 17 fatalities on the province’s roadways so far this year.

Oliver Whiffen, Sergeant in charge of the RCMP’s collision reconstruction program in Newfoundland, says they are seeing more and more evidence of distracted driving in the province, such as a car crossing over the centre line on a clear day for no apparent reason.

He cites cell phone use as an example of distracted driving, but there are other causes of distracted driving that people don’t often think of, such as eating, reaching over to change the radio station, or having a dog on your lap. He explains that he has seen people doing their makeup while driving and even reading the newspaper.

Another thing the RCMP is cracking down on is seatbelt use. Whiffen explains that many bad habits surrounding seatbelt use start in small communities.

As an example, he says some people may not wear their seatbelts when just driving to the store. He says that becomes part of people’s muscle memory, and eventually they translate onto bigger roadways and onto the highways.