MONTREAL, Que. – Transport Canada has added to the focus on distracted driving through a national roundtable in Montreal, featuring voices including the Canadian Trucking Alliance (CTA) and Quebec Trucking Association.

Sessions covered the steps that different industries are taking to fight distracted driving; actions needed to change the way people use devices while driving, cycling or walking; and ways different sectors could help increase awareness of the issue.

The CTA observed that distracted driving has surpassed impairment and speeding as the highest risk factor behind collisions. It called for a focus on prevention and planning, monitoring, enforcement and evaluation.

The alliance wants distracted driving messages included into training for truck drivers, electronic logging devices (ELDs) that it says reduce “cognitive distraction”; and a focus on the feasibility of regulations for forward-facing cameras on all heavy commercial vehicles.

So, too, did the group ask government officials to consider incentives for advanced driver assistance systems.