|
|
Road Safety
Saskatchewan's Traffic Safety Act outlines the rules for driving. If you violate the Traffic Safety Act, you will have committed a traffic offence. This may result in penalties such as a parking ticket or a speeding fine which can be paid by mail. More serious offences may require that you go to a court of law.
By law all people in the vehicle must wear seat belts at all times. For infants and children, you must use and properly install the right size of infants' and children’s car seats in your vehicle. The driver has the legal responsibility to ensure that passengers under the age of 16 have the proper seat belts in place. If someone under the age of 16 in your car is found not wearing a seatbelt, the driver will have to pay a fine. You will also be assessed demerits on your licence, which could result in a surcharge to SGI and/or being sent to a traffic safety sanction.
Try to avoid distractions while driving, and watch out for deer and other wild animals that often cross the highways.
Saskatchewan has strict laws concerning drinking and driving. If the police think you have been drinking, they can give you a roadside test to test the level of alcohol in your blood. If you have more than .08 blood alcohol content, there are serious consequences. Your driving licence will be suspended from 1 to 5 years; you will pay a fine; you might lose your vehicle and possibly serve jail time. Because you will have a criminal record, you may not be able to travel outside of Canada for a number of years. You will also be sent to an addiction counselor and a recovery program, or the Driving Without Impairment Program (DWI), which costs a fee. If you are found to have a blood alcohol content of more than .04, you could lose your licence for 24 hours to 90 days, and the authorities may take your vehicle. You may also be sent to an addiction counselor and a recovery centre or DWI. If you are a learner driver or novice driver, there is zero tolerance for alcohol consumption, which means if you are found with any amount of alcohol on your breath while driving, you will lose your licence for 30 to 90 days and/or you will have to pay a fee to attend the DWI.
If you want to know the rules of the road for Saskatchewan drivers, read the Saskatchewan Driver's Handbook which is based on the Saskatchewan Traffic Safety Act.
There are accident conditions under which you must report the accident to the police right away, such as death, injury, a drunk driver or a hit-and-run accident, when the vehicle needs to be towed, or when an out-of-province vehicle is involved. There are other less serious accident conditions that you only report to SGI. It is a serious crime to go away from the place of the accident. This will cause you to lose your licence and possibly pay a heavy fine, or even go to jail.
Filing a claim with SGI means that you apply to collect money for injuries that happened in a collision. This can be an auto claim, a personal injury claim or a property damage claim. You report the collision to the nearest SGI Claim Center, usually the one closest to where you live. Dial-A-Claim is a telephone system where you can report collisions. SGI also offers online reporting of collisions.
For more information, visit:
Saskatchewan's winter weather varies. Winter driving can be very dangerous, even though highways are sanded or salted to make them safer. Heavy snowfalls and strong winds make the road difficult to see. Warm and sunny weather makes snow melt and the road becomes very icy and slippery as temperatures drop.
When you slip off the road (called "hitting the ditch"), you might be forced to sit in your car for several hours because the wind chill will make it very hard or even impossible to walk for help. Police patrol the highways even during stormy weather, and Saskatchewan people are often willing to help someone who is in trouble on the road. Therefore, always stay in your vehicle and wait for help.
"Poor Driving Conditions" under Drive Right with SGI will provide you with more information on winter driving. Before going out on the road, you should always check winter road conditions.
|
|
