New York means business with violators of its texting and driving law: The governor signed legislation giving primary enforcement status to the offense. That means law officers can stop and cite offenders of the state's electronic distracted driving laws. Handheld cell phone use already carries primary enforcement status in New York. Gov. Andrew Cuomo also said he would order the DMV to carry out his plan to assess a third point against the drivers licenses of texting and handheld cell phone violators. "It's plain and simple: Distracted driving leads to tragedies that have affected families … [Read more...]
DOT vs. GHSA on cell bans
July 12, 2011 by 2 Comments
Days after a group of state highway safety officials urged a halt to new handheld cell phone legislation, the federal DOT is out with its own study indicating that distracted driving bans can indeed work. The U.S. Transportation Department said July 11 that two local crackdowns on handheld cell phone use and text messaging while driving -- in Syracuse, N.Y., and Hartford, Ct. -- resulted in significant drops in those distracted driving behaviors. "It is crystal clear that those who try to minimize this dangerous behavior are making a serious error in judgment, especially when half a … [Read more...]
Ontario: Distracted driving news
June 27, 2011 by 3 Comments
Ontario Premier Doug Ford is under fire for using cell phone video to talk with reporters while he was driving. It is illegal in the province to "view display screens unrelated to driving, such as watching a video." The on-the-road interview came Jan. 16, 2022, during a dangerous winter storm. Ford called in to television station CP24 while driving in the storm. The province's bulked-up penalties for electronic distracted driving are now in effect. Under the revised law, basic distracted driving offenses come with license suspensions of three days (first offense), seven days (second) and … [Read more...]
New Brunswick: Distracted driving news
June 27, 2011 by 4 Comments
New Brunswick RCMP said in early October 2014 that they'd written almost 600 distracted driving tickets so far in the year. That's roughly on pace with the number from 2013, which totaled 763. The fine for violating New Brunswick's distracted driving regulations is $172.50 plus three points against the driver's license. New Brunswick RCMP reported that in the first full year of the distracted driving law, they'd issued more than 672 tickets. "There are still New Brunswickers who continue to use handheld devices while driving, or who have gone back to their old habit of doing so," a New … [Read more...]
Nevada nixes texting, driving
June 20, 2011 by 8 Comments
Nevada's governor has approved legislation banning handheld cell phone use and text messaging for all drivers. The Assembly's final vote came May 30 and the Senate signed off June 4. Nevada is now the 34th state to ban texting while driving. The measure, SB 140, has was approved by Gov. Brian Sandoval, who made it clear that he would support a statewide ban on text messaging while driving. The law will go into full effect Jan. 1 with warnings to be handed out in October. Fines are $50 then $100 and then $250. Sen. Shirley Breeden was the bill's author. Her texting bill of 2010 failed to … [Read more...]
Recent Comments