According to a new report from the Frontier centre, the distracted driving legislation has failed to improve road safety in Manitoba.

The report actually found highway fatalities reached an all-time high provincially during the first full year under the legislation.

Frontier analyst, Steve Lafleur, tells 660News distracted driving is a complex issue.

“If you really want to do something about driver safety, now this is in the realm of absurd but it makes the point I think, the most dangerous distraction is other passengers,” he said.

“So, if you really want to go to the absurd conclusion, what you want to do to increase safety is ban passengers. Are we willing to make that trade off? I don’t think so.”

Lafleur believes the Manitoba government should repeal the ban on cell phone use while driving, and instead focus on driver education.