Footba scholarship Football for Covington
A movie niche with lots of brains page 35
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Friday February 4, 2011 Serving Surrey and North Delta www.surreyleader.com
Delta looks at leaving TransLink South-of-Fraser transit model being considered by Kevin Diakiw DELTA IS now talking about leaving
LEADER FILE PHOTO
Drivers are still talking and texting on the road in large numbers, despite B.C.’s year-old ban on the use of hand-held devices.
Deadly driving habits Multi-tasking behind the wheel a factor in nearly half of all traffic deaths by Jeff Nagel ONE YEAR after B.C.’s distracted driving ban kicked in, there’s little sign the threat of fines is helping drivers keep their eyes on the road and off their electronic gadgets. “There’s a high percentage of people still using their cellphones whenever they’re driving,” RCMP Cpl. Jamie Chung said. Police issued 32,000 tickets province wide
Editorial 6
since the ban on hand-held use of cellphones and similar devices began in February 2010, worth a total of $5.2 million in $167 fines. Distracted driving remained a factor in 32 per cent of all fatal crashes in B.C.’s RCMPenforced jurisdictions in the past year. In the Lower Mainland, it’s linked to 48 per cent of traffic deaths. A total of 45 people have been killed by distracted drivers since the new law took effect.
That doesn’t necessarily mean a distracted driver who caused a deadly crash was talking on a cellphone or texting. “It means they were doing something that took their eyes off the road,” Chung said. “Looking for a CD on the floor, playing with an iPod or maybe they spilled a cup of coffee and were wiping it up, not watching where they are going.”
TransLink unless better transit service is provided South of the Fraser. The move comes as Surrey continues to voice its dissatisfaction with transit service here. While it’s unclear whether either cities could actually cut ties with TransLink, it’s hoped the threat of the possibility will cause the province to review the situation. Delta Mayor Lois Jackson said Tuesday the municipality gives $12 million annually in taxes to TransLink, and she Dianne Watts believes that money could be better spent elsewhere. “It’s not the TransLink board that has to go to the polls and answer to everybody,” Jackson said. “It’s the local council and mayors.”
TransLink is “like the mafia. Once you’re in, you’re in...”
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