Canadian distracted driving updates
Last updated: August 31, 2010 · Print this report
Canada cell phone/texting overview: Distracted driving legislation has been enacted across Canada, with restrictions similar to those being adopted in the United States.
Most Canadian provinces have outlawed use of handheld cell phones and/or text messaging while driving — Quebec, Ontario, Saskatchewan, British Columbia, Nova Scotia, Manitoba and Newfoundland/Labrador.
Here’s an update on the other provinces and territories.
- Alberta’s government has proposed an extensive set of rules that target distracted driving. Debate begins in the fall.
- Prince Edward Island’s ban on the use of handheld electronic devices went into effect Jan. 23, 2010.
- Saskatchewan’s ban on talking and texting on handheld cellphones became law Jan. 1, 2010.
- British Columbia’s bans on handheld cell phone use and text messaging while driving became law Jan. 1, 2010, with fines of $167 beginning Feb. 1.
- Manitoba’s cell phone/texting went into effect July 15.
- The Yukon Territory’s legislators have almost unanimously endorsed creation of a plan to rein in drivers’ use of cell phones and “similar electronic devices.”
Alberta’s lawmakers have set the debate over distracted driving for fall. Bill 16, introduced by MLA Art Johnston, would ban handheld cell phones (hands-free OK) as well as PDAs and other handheld electronic communications devices. Texting would be banned. Also prohibited would be personal grooming, non-commercial use of CB radios, writing, drawing, sketching and use of certain video screens. Fine of $172, no demerits.
“We are sending a strong safety message to all Albertans: When you’re in your vehicle, your focus must be on driving,” said Luke Ouellette, the transportation minister. Ouellette gave signals the day after the introduction that enforcement might be secondary if the law is approved — meaning police need another reason to pull over drivers before issuing a citation.
Alberta had been criticized by safety groups and some legislators for dragging its feet on distracted driving legislation. Alberta Premier Ed Stelmach said in December 2009 that he wanted to see the effects of texting bans in other provinces before acting. He cited a “busy agenda” as the reason it was not addressed that year. Calgary Police Chief Rick Hanson says distracted driving legislation is overdue.
The Alberta Motor Association says its poll of province drivers indicated 75 percent were in favor of Bill 16, the distracted driving legislation to be debated in the fall. Almost 70 percent backed limits on the use of all cell phones, including hands-free.
Edmonton city councilor Dave Thiele is lobbying for Alberta to ban all cell phone use by motorists. “I would encourage Transportation Minister Luke Ouellette to amend the bill to include hands-free devices in the bill,” he wrote in an op-ed piece.
Strathcona County’s ban on texting and handheld cell phone use while driving began Sept. 1, 2009. The county bylaw is the first in Alberta. The activities are outlawed on country roads, not those policed by the province. Fines run from $100 to $200. The ban on text messaging and handheld cell phone use was approved in May. Alberta’s government is developing similar legislation. (Strathcona County is east of Edmonton, with a population of more than 80,000.)
Ontario Provincial Police wrote almost 3,800 distracted driving tickets in the five-month period between February 2010 (when active enforcement began) and July. OPP said tickets were down from May (778) to June (496). The numbers did not include municipal police, Toronto’s Metro reported. The ban became law in October 2009. Fines of $125CAN (typical) didn’t kick in until Feb. 1.
In Ottawa, Ontario’s ban on drivers’ use of handheld electronic devices such as cell phones and PDAs led to almost 2,000 citations so far in 2010, the Police Service reported in mid-August.
Total ban on cell phones: The Canadian Automobile Association is convinced that driving while using a hands-free cell phone is no safer than driving with a handheld cell phone. It’s pushing the provincial governments to expand their bans. The group says Nova Scotia is reconsidering its law and it hopes to sway New Brunswick as it writes its driving and cell phones law.
The British Columbia Automobile Association says handheld cell phone use has been greatly reduced in the six months since the province’s ban went into effect. But plenty of drivers say they still see others using mobile phones. The BCAA polled users of its web site and e-newsletter in June and July 2010, with only 6 percent of the respondents saying they continue to use handheld cell phones while driving. But 77 percent of those surveyed said they saw other drivers yakking and driving at least once a week. Based on the responses, “it is particularly encouraging to see the significant number of drivers who either pull off the road to make or take a call, or are no longer using a phone at all,” a BCAA spokesman said.
Cell phone poll: Canadians remain split over the need to outlaw cell phone use while driving, with about half of those polled supporting outright bans. Forty-two percent were opposed. A clear majority (67%) told pollsters that drivers wouldn’t obey cell phone bans, while half said police wouldn’t enforce the laws anyway. Older respondents (58%) wanted bans on all types of cell phone use by drivers, while younger people generally were not supportive (28%). The poll of 1,007 adults was taken online in late October 2009 by TNS Canadian Facts.
Saskatchewan’s ban on text messaging and use of handheld cell phones took effect Jan. 1, 2010. June Draude, minister for Saskatchewan Government Insurance, introduced the legislation Nov. 12 and it passed a final reading on Nov. 25. New drivers also will be prohibited from any cell phone use. Violators are to be fined $280 and will receive four demerit points.
British Columbia’s texting and handheld cell phone bans resulted in 715 tickets in the first two months of enforcement. The bans went into effect Jan. 1, 2010, but there was a month’s warning period. Tickets cost $167. Up to three points could be assessed against a text-messaging or emailing driver.
Prince Edward Island’s law against driving while using handheld electronic devices went into effect Jan. 23, 2010. Fines range from $250 to $400 plus 3 points against license.
New Brunswick appears to be the only province not dealing with distracted driving. New Brunswick reportedly is monitoring the success of cell phone and texting bans in other provinces. The CBC quoted a city councilor, David Kelly of Fredericton, as asking: “What is it gonna take? “Is it gonna take a certain ration of accidents? What do we have to do here in New Brunswick? What else is it gonna take for us to go that next step?”
Moncton, a city in New Brunswick, banned cell phone use and text messaging for all of its employees. The ban begins April 1, 2010, a month after approval. Councillor Pierre Boudreau said the city was setting an example for the province.
Before adopting its cell phone/text messaging bans, the British Columbia government had asked the public to fill out a distracted driving study that came with seven questions regarding the issue of cell phoning and text messaging.
About 25 percent of traffic accidents in British Columbia are linked to distracted driving behaviors such as use of cell phones, the Office of the Superintendent of Motor Vehicles said in June 2009. The distractions lead to 117 deaths per year, the OSMV report says. Drivers were equally distracted by handheld cell phones and cell phones with hands-free devices attached, said the report, which was actually a “review of distracted driving research.”
The Yukon’s MLAs voted Dec. 2, 2009, in favor of developing laws that would restrict use of cell phones and similar devices. Only one MLA objected. Liberal MLA Darius Elias, who introduced a similar plan in October, told the lawmakers: “I don’t want the Yukon to be the last jurisdiction in Canada to protect its citizens in this way.”
Manitoba’s ban on drivers’ use of hand-held cell phones and texting devices goes into effect July 15, 2010. The fine would be $191, the transportation ministry said. A public education campaign began in September 2009.
The British Columbia Association of Chiefs of Police adopted a resolution calling for a ban on handheld cell phone use while driving.
“The data and evidence is overwhelming that people are more likely to be involved in an accident while on a cellphone when they are driving,” said the president of the BCACP, Supt. Bill McKinnon. The vote came on June 17, 2009.
A Saskatchewan poll taken in September 2009 indicated that 60 percent of residents “strongly support” bans on cell phone use and text messaging by drivers. … Saskatoon’s police chief has called for cell phoning and texting to be outlawed for motorists.
The Ontario Medical Association had pushed for a ban on cell phone use in Canada while operating a vehicle, saying it is clear that any activity such as dialing, typing or reading a text message is unsafe for drivers and those around them.
The market research company Angus Reid says 88 percent of Canadians surveyed were supportive of a ban on use of hand-held cell phones by drivers. 77 percent said this prohibition would make the country’s roads and highways much safer.
Respondents in Atlantic Canada (94%) and Quebec (90%) hold the highest level of support for the cell phone ban, along with women (89%), Canadians over the age of 55 (92%) and university graduates (89%), Angus Reid said.
Ontario’s legislature voted unanimously on April 22, 2009, to ban motorists from text messaging, using handheld cell phones and other electronic devices connected with distracted driving. It went into effect Oct. 26. A previous plan to prohibit Ontario motorists from using cell phones without hands-free devices was shot down in October 2008.
Editorials, opinion:
Alberta: “For some reason — some suggest it’s fear of sliding further down the political popularity poll — the Stelmach government keeps dangling the carrot (of distracted driving laws), and then yanking it away. … Alberta … is set to become Canada’s traffic-safety donkey once again.” Michael Platt in the Calgary Sun (Jan. 19, 2010)
“The (Prince Edward Island) government is apparently ready to reintroduce legislation calling for a ban on talking and texting on hand-held cellphones while driving. It’s about time. … The sooner the province can introduce legislation, the sooner it can be passed and brought into law. Let’s just get it done. Motorists who like their phones may grumble at first, but surely they will adjust.” — The Guardian (Sept. 18, 2009)
PLEASE, pass this ban into LAW for ONTARIO
I am so sick of seeing women on th highway every morning on my commute not paying attenition while they are on their phone…why do I hardly see Men using cell phones while driving or pulling out of Walmart parking lots…this is really starting to scare me…..so careless….driving a vehicle is a privelegde and requires utmost attention…I feel more and more my life is at risk with this issue!!!!!!!!!!
Take a drive downtown or on the 401 and I guarantee you’ll see plenty of men talking, texting and emailing on their smart phones while driving. The mere fact that your test site is a Walmart parking lot, primarily the domain of women, skews the numbers, so of course you would see mainly women on phone.
I have to agree with Z. It’s not just the ladies doing it. Here in Montreal, where we actually now have a ban on hand-held phones, I still see about a 50/50 split between men and women using the cell phone while driving. They use it on Decarie Expressway and along the Metropolitain section of Transcanada, one of the busiest and more dangerous areas for driving in Montreal.
It’s not enough to make a law. The police need to enforce it too. A few $300 fines might get them to open the wallets and get a Bluetooth, or stop using it at all while on the move.
I hate to say it, but I agree with Tim Watson on this. Driving around in Calgary, the vast majority of the distracted drivers I encounter on our streets are women who are texting or reading texts while driving. I don’t know about other places, but I really do believe there is a gender difference here in Calgary. I’d be curious for the official numbers concerning distracted driving charges in the past 3-5 years, and how they break down by age and gender.
I see cell/texting use from all kinds of drivers, here is an idea, instead of trying to blame one group or in this case gender, just make it a law across Canada, the same in every province.
The issue of the distracted driver goes way beyond the use of cell phone. I spend more than three hours a day communiting on the highways around the GTA. I have never been involve in an accident, but one day this past winter I had four near misses. Incidentally, they were all women. Men can be just as bad. Two of them invloved people talking on the phone (after the ban came into effect). One was smoking a cigarette and putting on make up. The last one just was’nt watching when turning on a red light. Many drivers are distracted by food or beverages (coffee!!!). Legislation is not the answer. Public awareness campaigns works better. Higher insurance rates are dramatically more severe than the fines handed out under legislation.
Telecommunication companies need to create smart phones that will not operate in any way while the phone is moving at a speed faster than a person can walk. The law can ban the use but will it not stop users, Imagine if everyone drank and had a bottle opened at hands reach, now think about how many people have access to use the phone while driving.
I run a business and nothing is more important to me than the safety of our employees and the public. So I say to you the smart phone engineers make us a safe smart phone.
Do you ever think that everyone who has a phone or smart hpoine uses while they drive? I live in Calgary and there are nurmous people using cell phones while driving! Both men and women! There is no need to zero out women in this issue because everyone does, you know and I know! People just have to take their own into their hands, its like wearing a seat belt you have to awareness of the safety behind but you won’t know the consequences until you get a ticker. The same when the cell phone you won’t know the consequnces until you get a ticket or end up in a car accident!
I know of incidences that one accident was casued my a young girl texting in the middle of a winter storm and rearended someone on hwy 2. Then I know another incident where a young guy was talking on his phone and stopped short and rearended another vehicle. You take the risk into you own hands! Be smart and leave you phone in the back seat or in the glove box. Leave it alone! Plus Alberta needs to get on top of this or we are going to be last to jump on board!!