No grace period for distracted drivers

No grace period is planned for Alberta drivers to get used tothe province'snew distracted driving law, RCMP said Friday.

"There can be warnings given, but we have no program to say that there is going to be a grace period or a warning period, so if one of our officers sees somebody driving distracted Sept. 1st, anytime Sept. 1st, then you are liable to get a ticket," RCMP Insp. James Stiles said.

Integrated RCMP and Alberta Sheriff traffic units, who jointly patrolroads outside of the major cities that have their own police forces,will be stationed at a number of locations on the Labour Day weekend to enforce the new law, as well as watching for speeders and drunk drivers.

Drivers caught using a hand-held cellphone, reading or putting on makeup while behind the wheel face a $172 ticket.

Stiles said there is no reason for anyone not to know about the legislation with the amount of media coverageit has received.

Drivers inCalgary will have it somewhat easier. The city's police forcesaid earlier this week it will mostly issue warnings in the first month of enforcement, but will still ticket anyone blatantly breaking the rules.

In Edmonton, a senior traffic squad officer saidhe was advising colleagues to use discretion with the new law, suggesting that they typically only dole out infractions where there's evidence someone's driving was hampered by their distraction.

Alberta officialssay the new legislation will be the toughest in the country.