Municipal enforcement did a bit of investigating on distracted driving in Okotoks last week.

An officer was in an unmarked vehicle and relayed information back to another officer about drivers who were using their devices behind the wheel.

Officers are hoping to spread the word on the dangers of being distracted when driving as it could lead to fatal incidents for both motorists and pedestrians.

Kelly Steinwand, Municipal Enforcement Manager for the Town of Okotoks, says it's discouraging how many people drive distracted.

"When you stop them a lot of people will say 'I was just changing my music' or 'I was just checking something quickly while I was in the intersection'," he explains. "But it's interesting to see how you'll pull up right beside them and they're not even aware sometimes of a marked vehicle right beside them which is an indication when you're looking down you start losing awareness of the things that are occurring around you."

Steinwand says there's no specific demographic for who's taking part in the behaviour the most.

"We noticed that there's no real pattern to who's actually continuing to drive distracted with devices, we're seeing adults, students, business people."

He adds a positive note that while there were many who were distracted while driving, there was also a number of people who had both hands on the wheel and were paying full attention to the road.

It's recommended motorists hook their phones up to their vehicles via bluetooth and set them in their consoles while they're driving so they're out of sight.

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