Distracted driving has emerged as one of the most prominent road safety concerns in Canada and worldwide in the past decade. Indeed, this issue has taken its place among other high-profile topics including the non-use of seatbelts, speeding and impaired driving that are significant contributors to fatal crashes. As a consequence, much work has been undertaken in the past decade to increase knowledge and understanding of this issue. This quest has been spurred by an ever-growing body of research that is comprised of real-world, naturalistic studies, combined with the analysis of crash data, driving simulator research and public opinion polls among others. Collectively these studies have revealed some important findings about distracted driving that have substantially influenced activities to begin to reduce it. This environmental scan on distracted driving was designed using a qualitative approach and was not intended to be representative of all experiences. Its overall objective was to develop a current, national picture of distracted driving in Canada. In particular, it sought to identify common practices and experiences across jurisdictions that could help to ascertain priorities and opportunities based on activities to date. This information is essential to facilitate the broader coordination of strategies in the coming years. There were three essential steps associated with this environmental scan which was conducted over a period of six months. As a first step, in October 2014, TIRF and D.I.A.D. created a brief online questionnaire for an environmental scan that could be shared with a broad cross-section of agencies in Canada who were engaged in the distracted driving issue. This online scan was informed by the results of a national survey of provincial/territorial jurisdictions conducted earlier in 2014 by the Road Safety Research and Policy committee of the CCMTA in order to avoid duplication of efforts. The second step was to conduct key informant interviews with a smaller sample of respondents to the online scan to provide some context to help interpret the results of the scan, and the third step involved the analysis and synthesis of the results. This scan was comprised of a total of 20 multiple-answer questions with space for additional input to enable respondents to clarify responses as needed. Areas of inquiry included: * current and planned legislative initiatives; * enforcement strategies, practices and outcomes; * data collection activities and measurement processes; * education and awareness campaigns; and, * perspectives and ideas regarding future activities. The online environmental scan was conducted from October to December 2014. It was disseminated to more than 45 organizations engaged in road safety who were identified by TIRF, D.I.A.D. and the CCMTA based on their collective knowledge and experience with this issue in Canada. A total of 40 individuals representing organizations in seven different provinces participated and completed the online scan, including: Alberta (AB), British Columbia (BC), Manitoba (MB), Newfoundland and Labrador (NL), Nova Scotia (NS), Ontario (ON), and Prince Edward Island (PE). The types of organizations that responded to the scan in each jurisdiction were varied. Participants worked in a broad cross-section of agencies including provincial and municipal governments, federal and local police departments, insurance companies, healthcare institutions, as well as non-governmental, academic and community organizations. Overall, 35% of respondents represented police agencies, 28% represented provincial governments, 12.5% represented municipal governments, and 12.5% represented non-governmental organizations and academia. In addition, 7% of respondents represented insurance organizations and the remaining 5% of respondents did not fit within any of these categories. The second step of this work involved key informant interviews that were designed to augment the data collected from the online scan and to further clarify the context of responses to help facilitate the interpretation of the scan results. Key informant interviews were conducted between January and March 2015, using a convenience sample drawn from the online scan respondents. A total of seven individuals representing a cross-section of government, enforcement, industry and non-profits in three jurisdictions participated in these interviews. Each interview was organized according to a semi-structured approach, and participants were provided with a list of guiding questions and areas of interest for discussion in advance of the interview. This semi-structured approach allowed for open conversation and the free flow of new ideas not covered by the advance copy of provided questions. The third step in this study involved the summary and synthesis of results from the online scan and key informant interviews. Data were analyzed using univariate and bivariate techniques. Interview results were analyzed to identify common and re-occurring themes as well as important differences. These interview results were then used to augment and aid with the interpretation of the online scan data to provide context for the distracted driving issue in Canada. The collective results emerging from the online environmental scan and follow-up key informant interviews are synthesized and presented in the next section. Results in relation to each area are presented according to the key features of planning, the core components of activities, and lessons learned, respectively. (Author/publisher)
Samenvatting