Ontario Provincial Police are launching an enforcement and education blitz to crack down on drivers who text or find other distractions while they're behind the wheel.

Police said they are launching the campaign because a lot of motorists aren't complying with a provincial law that bans distracted driving, including the handheld use of a cellphone, be it to talk or text.

Starting Monday, officers will be targeting distracted drivers during four one-week blitzes over the next 12 months, making it one of the largest enforcement campaigns in recent OPP history.

"People need to understand the level of risk they are dealing with (because) distracted driving kills," said Bill Grodzinski, chief superintendent and commander of the OPP highway safety division, in a press release. "We know it is seriously under-reported in our statistics and is a major cause of collisions in Ontario."

The consequences can be deadly.

Last year, inattentive or distracted driving was a factor in 7,733 collisions on OPP-patrolled roads, resulting in 35 deaths and 1,040 injuries, police said.

In addition to handheld devices, other things that can take a driver's attention away from driving can include: adjusting the radio, searching for something in the car, eating or watching an in-car television screen, police said.

'Bad judgment'

In 2010, the OPP charged 8,522 drivers for using a handheld device while driving, an offence that carries a $155 fine.

Drivers can be fined $110 for watching an entertainment device. Other forms of distracted driving can net a careless driving charge with fines ranging from $400 to $2,000, a possible licence suspension of up to two years and/or a jail term of up to six months.

"Driving while distracted is bad judgment, plain and simple. There is no place for it on our roads," Larry Beechey, the OPP's deputy commissioner and provincial commander of traffic safety and operational support, said in the press release. "It is every driver's responsibility to devote their full attention to driving."

In addition to enforcement, police will also be taking a message to the media, schools and others to educate people about the dangers of distracted driving, which has been added to the "big four" casual factors for fatalities and injuries on Ontario highways.

The other three are aggressive driving, failing to use restraint devices such as a seatbelt and impaired driving.