The new Alberta distracted driving law went into effect next Thursday, Sept. 1. The fine is $172 (total).

(This post updated Sept. 1)

In addition to banning text messaging, emailing and the use of handheld cell phones for drivers, the law prohibits other use various other handheld electronic communications devices, grooming, non-commercial use of CB radios, GPS data entry, writing, drawing, sketching, reading of printed materials and the use of certain video screens (TVs, DVDs).

Use of cell phones with hands-free attachments is permitted, although that wasn’t a given: Last fall’s debate over Bill 16 focused on whether hands-free phone use should be allowed at all.

“This legislation is another step forward in our traffic-safety efforts and an important addition to our overall traffic safety strategy,” Minister of Transportation Luke Ouellette (pictured) said a week before enforcement began. “I am confident this new law, which is practical and enforceable, will help to keep Albertans safer while on the road — and that’s something we can all support.”

Enforcement of the law springing from Alberta’s Traffic Safety (Distracted Driving) Amendment Act (of 2010) began in time for the Labor Day holiday weekend. There was no grace period.

The province calls the new law “the most comprehensive distracted driving legislation in Canada.” Ouellette says the law represents “a bold approach (that) goes beyond restricting cell phones and deals with the broader issue of distracted driving.”

In addition to the typical vehicles found on highways, the act applies to farm vehicles and bicycles.

The law gives law officers flexibility in citing offenders. Tougher penalties can be assessed under the “driving carelessly” provisions of the existing Traffic Safety Act — a $402 fine and 6 demerit points against the offender’s license.

“The law is intended to be practical, effective and enforceable,” the Transportation Department says. It uses these examples: “Having a simple snack is allowed, but eating a meal from a plate with a knife and fork is not allowed. Glancing at a map is allowed, but reading a book or newspaper is not.”

The inclusion of personal grooming is unusual in Canada and the U.S. While frequently cited (by dubious lawmakers) during distracted driving debates in North America, this is one of the few times a grooming-while-driving ban actually become law.

Traveling with pets is not specifically banned under the new law.

View:
• FAQ on Albert’s distracted diving laws
• Alberta distracted driving news and legislation
• Canadian cell phone, texting news page

Students participating in an Allstate Insurance “Blow the Whistle” campaign counted more than 800 distracted drivers over the period of an hour at busy intersections in Moncton, Montreal and Toronto (one intersection per city). Insurance agents in Calgary, Edmonton, Sudbury, Ottawa, Windsor and Halifax spotted an additional 619 drivers. “All Canadian provinces now have distracted driving legislation in place, but it is not enough,” an Allstate spokesman said.

Eating and drinking were the most common distractions, while talking on a phone or texting made up 15 percent of all distraction citations, the report said.

Ottawa police said they wrote 227 tickets for distracted driving in November 2011. There was an emphasis on distracted driving that month under the city’s Selective Traffic Enforcement Program, which focuses on different problem areas each month.

Toronto police ticketed more than 700 motorists for violations of the province’s text messaging and cell phone laws during its mid-July road safety sweep.

Week 2 of Ontario’s distracted driving sweep ran July 11-17. Week one of the crackdown — tagged “Phone in One Hand, Ticket in the Other” — brought more than 1,600 citations (May 16-22). The fine for using handheld cell phones is $155 (CAN).

Ontario Provincial Police wrote more than 1,600 tickets for distracted driving over the 2011 Victoria Day weekend. Stepped-up enforcement was part of Canada Road Safety Week. OPP says fatalities on its patrolled roads are down 9 percent in 2011′s first quarter. The OPP wrote 8,522 citations in 2010, it said.

Toronto transit officials reportedly suspended 27 drivers for distracted driving violations in the first quarter of 2011. All but one got his job back, but the way is cleared for termination with a subsequent offense. The other driver was terminated. TTC riders filed 78 distracted driving complaints in February 2011 alone.

The Toronto Transit Commission says thanks but no thanks to riders’ photos and videos of bus drivers texting and talking on cell phones. Riders posted several pictures of drivers texting during the week of Jan. 23, 2011. Another rider sent the Toronto Star a shot of a driver reading a book while on the road.

“What we don’t want to see happen is people getting on board vehicles with their cameras rolling, taking pictures, it doesn’t help in our efforts to improve customer service,” a TTC representative said at the end of the week. “We don’t want this game of gotcha to be played out on the TTC.” Instead, the transit service asked for phone reports. The drivers union reportedly complained about the photos being taken.

In Toronto, police ran a one-day distracted driving sweep on Thursday, Nov. 24, yielding more than 70 tickets.

In Ontario, police handed out 45,975 tickets to distracted drivers in the period from from Feb. 1, 2010 (when active enforcement began), to Dec. 31, 2010. Fines of $155CAN didn’t kick in until Feb. 1.

A year after enforcement of the province’s handheld electronic devices ban, Toronto Police say they’re citing about 40 motorists a day.

Ontario’s law officers have cited more than 20,000 motorists for distracted driving infractions in the seven months since full enforcement of its law began in February 2010. Grace periods had been in effect since the law became official in late October 2009.

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.

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.

“I know it will be an inconvenience for people early on, or at least some people will think it is,” New Brunswick Premier David Alward said on the eve of enactment. “But from a public safety perspective, it’s vitally important.” In 2009, only four MLAs backed a cell phone ban.

Bathurst police wrote 64 distracted driving tickets in the first eight months of the law.

(View the full Canadian distracted driving news report.)

RCMP officers say they’re seeing compliance, along with a fair number of scofflaws: “Officers are seeing people pulled over on the side of the road to talk on their cell phones and (are) seeing many people using hands-free technology,” said Sgt. Claude Tremblay of the J Division Traffic Section.

A RCMP spokesman said of the lack of a warning period: “We have been telling people (for a long time) that it’s coming, so be prepared for it. It’s almost like they had their grace period.” About 50 tickets were written in the two weeks after the law took effect, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in New Brunswick reported.

New Brunswick’s distracted driving law was amended in April to allow for voice-command and one-touch operation of electronic communications devices, due to commercial lobbying and public feedback. Also allowed are use of in-dash operational screens and electronics needed by telecommunications workers.

New Brunswick Public Safety Minister Robert Trevors said: “These changes make the legislation stronger and more enforceable as handheld device manufacturers and the automotive industry adapt their products to be more safety conscious. … (The law now) allows for changing technology and for people who require communications devices for their jobs.” Most major car makers are selling or developing Internet-connected in-dash systems.

The New Brunswick distracted driving rules were approved by the legislature in late November 2010 and received a royal sign-off on Dec. 17. The New Brunswick talking & texting bans were expected to go into effect in May 2011, although it appears they will be delayed. They prohibit text messaging and cell phone use (unless a hands-free device is employed). Also banned is drivers’ viewing of portable entertainment devices such as DVD players and portable computers. GPS data entry prohibited while vehicle is moving. Fine of $172.50 plus three points. New Brunswick was the last province to ban texting and driving.

New Brunswick Public Safety Minister and Solicitor General Robert Trevors noted that “studies show that a significant percentage of collisions are the result of distracted driving. By introducing this legislation, our government is sending a message that distracted driving is not acceptable.”

Attention was focused on distracted driving again in September 2010, when a New Brunswick teenager died after running off the road while texting. 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?”

Photo: Jennifer Marr

McDonald, 24, won $7,800 (CAN) worth of filmmaking tools in the distracted driving category of a short-film contest sponsored by the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia.

“I looked at texting and driving and what that really is — it is a dangerous thing operating a heavy vehicle that could kill,” McDonald told the Westminster News Leader on March 16.

Police in British Columbia say they issued almost 35 percent more tickets in 2011 for distracted driving than in the previous year.

Province-wide, police wrote more than 46,000 citations for use of handheld electronic devices between Feb. 1, 2010 (when the law started), and Sept. 20, 2011. About 1,370 tickets were handed out for texting or emailing, safety officials reported Jan. 6, 2012.

“While the statistics show that we have seen a reduction in fatalities and serious injuries, far too many people are not getting the message,” said Shirley Bond, the minister of Public Safety.

In the Lower Mainland, areas covered by the RCMP experienced a 38 percent drop in fatalities in 2011, a decline credited in part to distracted driving laws. (60 fatalities vs. 97 in 2010.)

(View the full Canadian distracted driving news report.)

Vancouver police say that distracted driving now ranks as the No. 1 contributor to the metropolitan area’s fatal vehicle crashes.

Vancouver police wrote more than 2,100 tickets during the RCMP’s distracted driving offensive that ran through the month of September. Infractions for use of handheld electronic devices while driving in 2011 were about double what they were in 2010, the RCMP said.

Officers in the Lower Mainland and Nanaimo report infractions are on the way up. Nanaimo RCMP are running regular distracted driving sweeps.

B.C. poll: Three-quarters of British Columbia motorists consider text messaging or talking on a handheld cell phone as risky as drunken driving, according to a poll released Aug. 30. Almost 90 percent considered “texting or emailing on a hand held device” as very risky behavior. Two-thirds had the same opinion when asked just about the cell phones. …

More than half of the British Columbia drivers, 53 percent, said they witness others breaking the texting/cell phone laws “several times a day.” Only 16 percent admitted to breaking the distracted driving laws in the past year. The Ipsos Reid poll (conducted online with an established panel) accounted for 917 adult British Columbia drivers.

February’s Distracted Driving Campaign across British Columbia resulted in more than 3,000 citations for use of handheld phones or text messaging. The fine is $167 with the possibility of points against the driver’s license.

“From a policing perspective it is disappointing to see the numbers that high,” a spokesman for the “E” Division Traffic Services said.

British Columbia’s texting and handheld cell phone bans resulted in 32,665 tickets in the distracted driving laws’ first year (ending Jan. 1, 2011). The RCMP says 32 percent of B.C. vehicle fatalities in 2010 were linked to distracted driving (104 deaths). In the Lower Mainland regions covered by the mounties, the figure was 48 percent (45 deaths).

The British Columbia Automobile Association conducted a survey in January 2011 that follows up on its six-month report on the law against distracted driving — this time at the one-year mark.

The BCAA says handheld cell phone use and text messaging has been greatly reduced since the province’s ban went into effect. But plenty of drivers say they still see others using mobile phones.

“In (the) previous survey conducted at the six-month mark, we learned that most drivers were aware of the new law and were complying with it,” said Trace Acres, BCAA’s director of corporate communications and public affairs. “What we want to find out now is if compliance is increasing or if drivers are slipping back into their old habits. We also want to know if drivers feel the law has improved their own driving, along with the effect it has had on road safety generally.”

The one-year survey results will be posted in early February.

The BCAA survey in June and July 2010 found only 6 percent of the respondents saying they continue to use handheld cell phones while driving. But 77 percent of those surveyed (readers its web site and e-newsletter) 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.

The Vancouver Sun reports that on a per-capita basis, B.C. is handing out more than twice as many charges than Ontario.

The British Columbia 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.

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 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.

February will see increased enforcement of the handheld cell phone law, as it’s been designated distracted driving month under the Alberta Traffic Safety Plan.

Alberta’s new distracted driving rules went into effect Sept. 1. The Alberta Motor Association estimates that 3,000 tickets were written in the law’s first four months. The fine for violations is $172.

In Calgary, police have handed out 1,456 tickets under the distracted driving laws, they said at the end of January. The first three months of distracted driving enforcement yielded 950 tickets.

Calgary police said at year’s end that local drivers have returned to their old distracted driving habits.

The “new distracted driving law is a good addition to our overall strategy to keep Albertans safer while on the road,” province Minister of Transportation Luke Ouellette said just before enforcement of the new laws began. “We want all drivers to practice safe driving habits to ensure we all return home safely at the end of each day.”

In Edmonton, police reported 207 distracted driving tickets in September (the first month), 150 in October and at least 89 in November. Most tickets were for using a mobile phone while driving. In Calgary, the first month of distracted driving enforcement yielded 280 tickets and 150 warnings. The majority of tickets were for handheld cell phone use.

One of the first distracted driving tickets went to a commuter eating chow mein behind the wheel, the Edmonton Journal reported.

Read about Alberta’s new distracted driving laws.

Alberta’s lawmakers approved the government’s distracted driving Bill 16 on Nov. 17, 2010. The new law bans handheld cell phones (hands-free OK) as well as PDAs and other handheld electronic communications devices. Texting will 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.

Transport Minister Luke Ouellette said June 22 while announcing the Sept. 1 start date: “This new law is the most comprehensive distracted driving law in the country. No other jurisdiction in Canada addresses such a wide range of driving distractions.”

Minister of Public Security Frank Oberle also weighed in: “We are sending an extremely strong traffic safety message to motorists across the province: When you’re in your vehicle, your focus must be on driving.”

The RCMP in Alberta didn’t wait for the new provincial government law. It targeted distracted drivers in February 2011. Under current law, careless driving can bring fines of $402 and 6 demerits.

(View the full Canadian distracted driving news report.)

Calgary police chief Rick Hanson says his officers initially will enforce the distracted driving laws “with discretion”: “We’ll be communicating with media when we’re going to start enforcing it and I suspect the warnings will start right after (enactment), just to make people aware.”

Hanson says of the controversial report from the U.S. Highway Loss Data Institute showing distracted driving laws don’t work: “I can show you research that shows the Americans didn’t land on the moon in 1969, too.”

Enforcement of the law springing from Alberta’s Traffic Safety (Distracted Driving) Amendment Act has been put off again. MLA Ken Allred, St. Albert, unsuccessfully lobbied for the rules to take effect Jan. 1, 2011. “We’ve had enough discussion about it — education, if you want — over the last two years,” Allred said.

The province calls the new law “the most comprehensive distracted driving legislation in Canada.” Minister of Transportation Luke Ouellette said the law “is a bold approach and goes beyond restricting cell phones and deals with the broader issue of distracted driving.”

An Alberta Motor Association spokesman called the upcoming distracted driving law “a Christmas present for Albertans.” … A trade group for truckers who work in Alberta is seeking clarification on the rule regarding CB radios and mobile dispatching and routing terminals. Goverment officials reportedly admitted some aspects of the law affecting truckers were not thought through.

The fall debate over Bill 16 focused on whether hands-free phone use should be allowed at all. MLA Dave Taylor’s bid to amend the bill to remove that exemption failed. MLA Art Johnson, who introduced Bill 16, said the province should proceed without a total cell phone ban and revisit the issue: “We’ll be reviewing (hands-free) in the future and the way technology is evolving, this could change even next year.”

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.

In October 2010, Stelmach warned that license demerit points would be “the next step” if his government’s plan to stop distracted driving doesn’t work. The demerits would affect insurance premiums, although the current Bill 16 does not include those sanctions.

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.

The president of Canada’s Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons says the new Alberta law “is misguided. It’s dangerous and it’s going to kill more lives than it saves. (Legislators) should be ashamed of themselves.” Dr. Louis Francescutti says allowing cell phone use with hands-free devices gives drivers a false sense of security when in fact hands-free use is as dangerous as handheld cell phone use.

Strathcona County’s ban on texting and handheld cell phone use while driving began Sept. 1, 2009. The county bylaw was 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.)

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 University of Calgary’s Faculty of Medicine says its home province of Alberta could produce an annual savings of $36 million a year by instituting a cell phone ban.

The breakdown is $6 million in lower health care costs and $30 million in savings on clearing away wreckage from vehicle crashes. The lead researcher called the revenue proposition “a no-brainer” for the province.

But the costs of a ban on using cell phones while driving would be $20.5 million annually. This includes awareness campaigns, manpower and other costs of enforcement, and $14 million in calls (“lost consumer surplus”) that would not be made by drivers. The $14 million would not be direct costs, but revenue losses suffered by mobile telecommunications providers.

Economics are sometimes inserted into the debates on distracted driving legislation, with supporters pointing to the monetary gains from tickets and court costs. In California, for instance, a proposed doubling of fines for texting and handheld cell phone use could have brought the state another $32 million annually, a panel found. (The plan was defeated.)

Critics often accuse lawmakers who approve distracted driving bans of seeking revenue through traffic fines.

Alberta has been widely criticized for foot-dragging on distracted driving laws while six other provinces have enacted bans on text messaging and cell phones. (British Columbia, Newfoundland, Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia and Saskatchewan.)

The province government’s Bill 16, which would ban handheld cell phone use and texting, is up for debate in the Legislature. The bill seeks a $172 fine for various distracted driving activities.

Study author Dr. Alan Shiell (pictured) said he had mixed feels about Bill 16: “Personally, I would introduce a complete ban. It may inconvenience drivers a little but that is more than offset by the risk of a crash and the costs and harms associated with crashes.”

As for the study’s unusual economic angle, Shiell says: “I hope this research sheds some new light on the issue.”

The UC study assumed 4,450 fewer collisions annually in Alberta and 15 fewer deaths. It was first published in the September issue of the journal Health Economics.

The current Liberal government has come under fire once again for its foot-dragging in enacting specific distracted driving laws. New Brunswick remains one of two Canadian provinces without laws against text messaging while driving.

Political Conservatives have said several times during their campaign for the fall election that they’ll promptly enact distracted driving legislation if victorious in the fall.

The issue hit the front burner Sept. 6 with the death of a young man on the Trans-Canada Highway. The driver was sending a text message when he lost control of his car and crashed into a rock wall, a passenger told police.

Progressive Conservative Leader David Alward charged that the Liberals “have had an opportunity for the last few years to bring (cell phone and texting laws) forward. We’ve asked many times the minister what his position was on it.”

Liberal Leader Shawn Graham vowed that there were would be “a comprehensive piece of legislation to deal with texting, to deal with cellphones while driving and a number of other distractions that can occur behind the wheel.”

CBC News noted that the Public Safety Department had long resisted a New Brunswick ban on cellphone use while driving, focusing instead on public education. At one point it announced plans to see how distracted driving laws worked out in other provinces before taking any action.

Alward told the Times & Transcript that “New Brunswick is one of the last jurisdictions that still allows it. It is unsafe and for the protection of all our citizens, it’s necessary to do.” His party brought up the issue over the summer.

A local politician, David Kelly of Fredericton, recently asked: “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?”

New Brunswick’s general election is set for Sept. 27.

Alberta also has no laws against use of handheld cell phones and text messaging. The government has said it will debate the issue this fall.

The province’s Tory government called the plan “some of the most comprehensive distracted driving legislation in Canada.”

Bill 16, introduced April 14, would outlaw drivers’ use of handheld cell phones (hands-free OK), as well as PDAs and other handheld electronic communications devices. Texting would be included in forbidden activities.

Alberta’s distracted driving legislation includes a ban on “personal grooming” while driving. While frequently cited (by dubious lawmakers) during distracted driving debates in North America, this is one of the few measures to seriously propose such a ban.

“Drivers can be distracted behind the wheel for many reasons other than talking on their phone,” said MLA Art Johnston, who introduced the bill. “This legislation goes beyond a simple hand-held cellphone ban.”

Also prohibited for drivers would be non-commercial use of CB radios, writing, drawing, sketching and non-transportation-related video screen watching.

(Update) A day later, the government raised the possibility 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 while other provinces took action.

The Calgary Sun editorialized in January: “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.” The paper cited fear of drops in popularity polls as one reason for the delays.

Alberta Premier Ed Stelmach cited a “busy agenda” as the reason no distracted driving legislation was proposed for 2009.

Strathcona County (east of capital Edmonton) has the province’s only law against driving while cell phoning and text messaging.

MLA Johnston, Calgary-Hays, is a former policeman who has been pushing for distracted driving for years. “I appreciate the great input of law enforcement and traffic safety stakeholders that has led to the introduction of this legislation,” he said. “This is a complex issue and I believe we have found a good balance between enforcement and safety.”

Enforcement of the province-wide ban started Monday, but the fines that could sap violators of $500 (CAN) won’t kick in until Feb. 1, 2010.

“This law is about keeping your eyes on the road and your hands on the wheel,” Transportation Minister Jim Bradley said at a news conference in Toronto on Monday. “We need to prevent these unnecessary road accidents and I believe this law will do just that.”

Drivers may continue to use cell phones if a hands-free device such as a Bluetooth headset
is employed.

Violations include talking, texting or emailing on cell phones or PDAs while behind the wheel. Cell phones may be used if the driver pulls off the road, but not while stopped in traffic.

Laptop computers and entertainment devices such as DVD players and game units are covered as well. The law prohibits viewing of any electronic screen “unrelated to the driving task such as laptops or DVD players while driving,” Ontario’s Ministry of Transportation says.

GPS units are exempted if they are mounted to a dashboard and iPods must be connected to the auto’s speaker system.

Read Ontario’s complete Rules for Hand-Held Wireless and Entertainment Devices.

There are no points charged to the license under Ontario’s new law, but drivers who endanger others while using electronic devices could face 6 points and fines up to $1,000.

The Legislature unanimously passed the plan on April 22, 2009. Premier Dalton McGuinty had opposed the ban but gave in to growing support. The intent was to get the law in place before the onset of winter driving.

Newfoundland and Labrador have long outlawed use of handheld cell phones while driving. Quebec and Nova Scotia joined the club this year. British Columbia is about to enact similar sanctions.

Saskatchewan and Alberta are in various stages of enacting bans against drivers using handheld cell phones and text messaging.

Read the Ontario cell phone and texting bill 118 (PDF).

Related content:

Ontario reins in handheld devices

Ontario targets cell phones, text messages

Canadian cell phone law updates