There were 685 distracted driving tickets were issued in March in Saskatchewan and 592 drivers were ticketed for holding or using cell phones while driving while 93 tickets were issued for driving without due care and attention.

The tickets are good for a $580 penalty and four demerit points. There are escalating fines and week-long vehicle impoundments for repeat offences. SGI says, even more serious, you could cause a collision, wreck your vehicle, get seriously hurt, or injure or kill someone else.

Preliminary statistics from 2020 indicate driver distraction or inattention contributed to more than 3,000 collisions last year, resulting in about 600 injuries and 22 deaths.

Police say the other Big Four traffic safety categories last month were 358 impaired driving offences, including 244 Criminal Code charges; 576 tickets for improper seatbelt or child restraint use; and, 6,846 tickets for speeding or aggressive driving.

The April focus is on speeding, pedestrians, cyclists, motorcyclists, and ATVs.