Distracted Driving is Impaired Driving

Written by Blair Carter

A motorist in Chatham was allegedly found reading while driving.

Early Thursday morning, a man was spotted driving with the interior light on in his car. The concerned tractor trailer driver called the Chatham-Kent OPP when the man’s car began straddling the center line on Hwy 401 police say.

OPP responded, and discovered the 24-year-old male driver reading a book.

“Distracted driving is obviously something that the OPP discourages” said arresting Officer Constable Aaron McPhail, “distracted drivers are four times more likely to cause an accident than those whose focus remains on the road.”

Constable McPhail said that officers have seen people reading maps on the steering wheels and once witnessed a tractor trailer driving down the highway with a DVD player sitting on the windshield.

“Drivers need to pay attention to driving 100 per cent of the time. At the time of night that this person was driving anything could have happened.”

Jonathan Guy of Merlin, Ontario has been charged with Careless Driving under the Highway Traffic Act.