Ontario’s Liberal government is looking at increasing the penalties for motorists who are caught with a cellphone or another handheld device in their grasp while driving a vehicle.
In an interview with CTV News, Transportation Minister Glen Murray said he is supportive of legislation that would add demerit points as a penalty in an effort to deter people from breaking the provincial law and putting road users at a greater risk of injury or death.
“We now live in the world of BlackBerries and iPhones and it’s a different reality, and the consequences of using those are similar to what we’ve had with drinking and driving, so it’s time to really look at what are the kinds of penalties that will work," Murray said.
Murray is planning to introduce new legislation within months, said CTV News' Queen's Park Bureau Chief Paul Bliss, who interviewed the minister.
The current penalty is a $155 fine with no demerit points or forfeiture of the handheld device, and Murray says the fine alone isn’t discouraging distracted driving. Drivers who receive a summons or who contest their ticket by going to court may face a fine of up to $500.
Despite repeated public awareness and enforcement campaigns by police across Ontario, tens of thousands of motorists are ignoring the four-year-old ban on handheld devices while driving.
The Ministry of Transportation says 51,776 motorists have been ticketed this year and 235,000 have been ticketed over the last three years.
It appears the minority Liberals may have enough votes to pass such a bill because the opposition Tories say they support the idea of tougher penalties.
Progressive Conservative MPP Lisa MacLeod told CTV News that the government should also consider driver’s licence suspensions as punishment.
The government is already consulting with police, the insurance industry and CAA about the proposed changes, Bliss said.
The law makes it illegal for people to talk, text, type, dial or email using handheld cellphones or other handheld devices while driving, but drivers are allowed to use a handheld device to call 911 in an emergency or if they are lawfully parked.
Drivers are permitted to use hands-free devices while driving. One example is a cellphone with an earpiece, headset or Bluetooth device using voice activation.
The law also bans drivers from manually programming GPS devices or viewing display screens unrelated to the driving task, including laptops or DVD players, the province says.
Police and other enforcement officers, paramedics and firefighters are exempt from the law when performing their duties.
Drivers who endanger others because of any distraction can be charged with careless driving. A conviction carries six demerit points, fines of up to $2,000 and/or six months in jail. Some cases result in a licence suspension of up to two years.
In serious cases, police can consider a more serious charge of dangerous driving.
A driver using a cell phone is four times more likely to be in a crash than a driver focused on the road, the province says.
With files from CTV Toronto Queen’s Park Bureau Chief Paul Bliss.
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