December 20, 2021 - (St-Augustin-de-Desmaures, Que.) – Led by businessman and Olympian Louis Garneau, the fourth edition of the Don’t Text and Drive Campaign is supported by many international cycling ambassadors. Aimed at raising awareness against distractions on the road it will top off with the International Don’t Text and Drive Day on December 22.

Louis Garneau was very affected by the loss of his Australian friend Jason Lowndes, who was fatally struck by a distracted driver on December 22, 2017. “This day of December 22 is very important for me because, in addition to my friend Jason, there are still too many cyclists that are victims of an accident involving a vehicle. Let’s all be focused on the road because an accident can happen very quickly as my friend Jason Lowndes unfortunately paid the price,” adds Louis Garneau.

With the pandemic, there are many more cyclists on the roads and accidents are unfortunately not decreasing. According to the SAAQ, distraction is one of the causes most often mentioned by police officers in accidents involving pedestrians or cyclists and a car. The survey also shows that the most frequent source of distraction among drivers is cell phones (phone and text). Finally, it was also revealed that nearly one in ten drivers are distracted from their driving while on the road.

In the next few days, many of our Don’t Text and Drive campaign ambassadors will be discussing driving distractions on their social media. They are international cycling personalities including Quebec athletes Hugo Houle, Hugo Barette, and Simone Boilard; world champion medalists Lea Davidson and Mike Woods; and Jason Lowndes’ parents and friends.

The testimonials will be added on December 22 to several banner ads on various websites to raise awareness not to text while driving.

Garneau invites everyone to sign their pledge to not text and drive here.

2020 SAAQ Road Report (in French) here.