Ontario’s government ombudsman is taking heat for distracted driving — because he was busy making a tattle-tale video of an extreme case of distracted driving.
Andre Martin, the province watchdog, noticed a driver ahead of him using an electric razor to shave his head. Martin whipped out his iPhone and made a video of the outrage, posting it as an example of how motorists will do just about anything behind a wheel, the Toronto Sun reported. Martin was stopped at a light at the time.
Unfortunately for Martin, his actions were in violation of the Ontario’s new hands-free law, at least in theory. The ban on using cell phones, cameras and texting devices has been approved but the cops won’t be writing tickets until fall.
The Ontario Safety League president wasn’t a fan of Martin’s civic vigilance. “He may want to review his protocols going forward,” he told the Sun.
“If this had occurred when the new law was in, there would have been two offenders.”
Other behaviors cited in the new law are emailing, watching DVDs, fooling with MP3 players and video gaming. No mention of head-buzzing, yet.
Phoning in other drivers’ antics appears to be a popular pastime in Ontario, with a third of impaired-motorist reports coming from fellow citizens.
The tattlers will be plenty busy in the fall, as the ban on handheld cell phones and texting goes into effect.
