The province is capitalizing on the foolishness of many Albertans who continue to text, groom, read and much more, all while behind the wheel.

Since the 2011 inception of Alberta's distracted driving law, the province has issued more than 86,000 tickets and with 27,417 convictions in 2014/2015 alone, the province is pocketing nearly $5 million annually off the $172 per-ticket offence, according to statistics provided by Alberta's justice and transportation ministries.

Calgary police Staff Sgt. Paul Stacey said in Calgary alone they have issued around 26,000 tickets since 2011.

“The law is pretty clear,” he said. “It’s setup that if one of those offences is causing a distraction, or if you’re doing it while behind the wheel then you can receive a distracted driving ticket.”

Although tickets issued for cellphone use have remained steady for the last three years, at around 24,000 provincially, the number of tickets issued for using other electronic devices such as laptops, iPads and video games has more than quadrupled from 486 tickets issued in 2012-2013 to 2,565 tickets issued in 2014-2015.

“We have actually over a million vehicles registered in Calgary alone, so that is a lot of cars on the road and a lot of people that are going to take their chances,” said Stacey.

Alberta drivers not phased by distracted driving fines

Even though we have all seen the devastation that's caused when drivers aren’t paying attention to the road, Staff Sgt. Paul Stacey said it hasn’t seemed to deter anyone from disobeying the distracted driving law.

Stacey said officers have dished out distracted driving to people doing pretty strange things while behind the wheel.

“We’ve written tickets to people who’re eating bowls of cereal and that sort of thing while they’re driving,” he said. “You’re obviously not paying attention to the road if you’re doing that.”

According to Stacey CPS has seen it all, from eating, to grooming, to gaming while driving, which can now earn Albertans a whopping $287 ticket since the increase in May of this year.

Stacey said there are plans to add an additional punishment of losing three demerit points along with the ticket.

“I expect that once the government institutes demerits instead of just a fine, I suspect we’ll start to see the number decline,” he said. “That’s when it becomes real, that’s when people eventually lose their drivers licences over this.”

Chris Rechner, spokesman for Alberta Motor Association (AMA) said in a survey they conducted in June of 2014 in which 900 Albertans were polled (300 from Calgary, 300 from Edmonton and 300 from elsewhere), they found that a third of Albertans admitted to texting while driving.

“When we asked them why we found that almost half the people said its because they’re stopped in traffic,” he said.  “There’s this idea that because your vehicle isn’t moving that you’re not part of the flow of traffic.”

“People tend to tune out when they get to a red light or a traffic jam or a train crossing,” he added.

Rechner said 41 per cent of those polled in Edmonton said they have texted while driving, while only 29 per cent of Calgarians admitted to the same.

Stacey said for those who are driving sporadically and don’t admit to distracted driving, there is a much more severe ticket that can be issued, called driving without due care, which can cost a driver $543.

“You’re driving at least in most cases a two-tonne missile down the road, so it would behoove the person who’s driving it to pay attention to the road,” he said.