SGI is looking to put a curb on injuries due to distracted driving and as such released some of the figures that they've studied.

According to SGI, there was an average of 877 injuries per year over the course of five years that were caused by accidents due to driver distraction or inattention.

Also in that figure is an average of 26 fatalities per year, which is why SGI has decided to make distracted driving the October Traffic Safety Spotlight.

Spokesperson Tyler McMurchy says that giving your undivided attention to the road is absolutely crucial.

"anything can distract you if you allow it to, so what drivers need to focus on is keeping their eyes on the road, their hands on the wheel, and their attention on what is going on in front of them and around them as they are driving because there's nothing more important when they're driving than the safe operation of that vehicle."

While phones are the main distractors, McMurchy says that just about anything that can take your attention off the road can be very dangerous.

Included in this are more complex consoles in cars, often containing touch screens and multiple menus to get lost in.

McMurchy recommends that people save any changes they want to make to those systems be done while the car is stopped.

"If you're spending more time fiddling with the radio or the temperature controls, that's not something you should be doing while driving. it only takes a few seconds of inattention when you're traveling 100 kilometers an hour to travel a significant distance and what's happening in that distance if you're not watching the road in front of you."

Another way distracted driving is discouraged is through tickets.

Distracted driving can land some serious costs for drivers - the first ticket is $580, the second is $1400, and the third is $2,100 - along with a seven-day impoundment of the vehicle and four demerits for a license.

"this year we've seen an average of 740 distracted rivers being given tickets every month as reported through our Traffic Safety Spotlight, and that was from January Through July. for those drivers, if they were all getting their first ticket, it's a very expensive ticket."