Ontario plans to ban using cellphones, portable GPSs while driving
Using hand-held electronic gadgets while driving will be against the law in Ontario under legislation to be introduced today.
Drivers caught e-mailing, texting or yapping on hand-held devices such as cellphones or BlackBerrys or using hand-held global positioning systems would face fines and lose demerit points, a well-placed government source told the Toronto Star.
However, drivers using cellphones with earpieces or Bluetooth devices to carry on conversations, or using dashboard-mounted GPSs will have nothing to fear under the bill developed over the last six months by Transportation Minister Jim Bradley.
“(GPSs) mounted to the car will be allowed,” the government source added. “Portable GPS, in the hands or in BlackBerrys, are covered under the ban.”
Cellphones with earpieces will be exempt despite a warning last month from the Ontario Medical Association that they are just as distracting to drivers because they reduce response times by impairing cognitive function and visual concentration.
“The evidence is clear that driving while using a mobile phone is dangerous to the driver, their passengers and others on or near the roadway,” OMA president Dr. Ken Arnold, who could not be reached yesterday, said last month.
Bradley would not comment in detail on the law aimed at stemming the tide of distracted drivers but said the government did “extensive consultations” and looked at experience in other jurisdictions that have bans.
Premier Dalton McGuinty previously opposed such a ban — saying it was difficult to draw the line between cellphones and other distractions, such as eating, and noting police already had dangerous driving laws in their arsenal — but changed his mind earlier this year.
