Yesterday morning I woke to the news that our government will introduce legislation this fall, banning the use of cell phones and other hand held devices while driving. (Click here for Star Phoenix article.) This is a huge step forward in terms of our life saving, injury prevention work, not to mention the cost savings to our economy. Hats off to Justice Minister Morgan and our government!

Here's the potential: a review of SGI's statistics reveals there were just under 6,900 personal injuries and 143 fatal injuries on Saskatchewan roadways in 2007. Driver inattention and driver distraction is said to account for 35% of all factors that cause crashes involving injuries or death in our province. This upcoming legislation will have the direct and immediate effect of saving lives and preventing the potential of injury to Saskatchewan drivers and their families. SMARTRISK's Economic Burden of Unintentional Injury in Saskatchewan report, released in 2001, cites the annual cost of motor vehicle related injuries in our province to be $119 million; indexed to today's dollar value brings this annual cost total to $150 million. We will see economic savings following the passing of this legislation. It's all good!!!

For those who might be opposed to this legislation because they feel it "infringes upon their personal rights", I urge a listen to the Eagles' song "Get Over It" - - - and let's get on with it by working together to put an end to our provincial unintentional injury epidemic!