Cellphone ban: enforcement a real challenge

ONTARIO'S OPPOSITION parties have appropriately withheld comment on legislation introduced last week that will prohibit drivers from using a variety of hand-held devices and subject them to stiff fines if they're caught flouting the law.

There's surely no doubt that using handheld devices such as cellphones, Ipods and BlackBerrys while driving can be terribly dangerous. On the other hand, it's doubtful they are any more dangerous than many other activities drivers routinely engage in, be it drinking hot coffee, smoking a cigarette or munching on a sandwich.

"What we're trying to avoid is driver distractions, and it's particularly difficult if a person is trying to operate something with his or her hands at the same time as driving," Transportation Minister Jim Bradley said in unveiling the government bill, adding, "We recommend that people not be distracted in any way," and warning that it "is enforceable."

The move will make Ontario the fourth province to enact such a ban, following Newfoundland and Labrador, Quebec and Nova Scotia.

The law wouldn't affect the use of handsfree devices such as Bluetooths or using cellphones for 911 calls, but it includes portable video games, MP3 players and DVD players. Global positioning systems will be allowed, as long as they're properly secured to the dashboard.

There are no demerit points attached to the bill, unlike in other provinces, but drivers who place others at risk by using one of the banned devices can also be charged with careless driving and face fines of up to $1,000, six demerit points, a driver's licence suspension and even jail time.

Mr. Bradley said the province isn't pushing to include demerit points because the penalties are significant, and taking drivers to court would clog up the system.

"Those who have been advocates have said that a big portion of this is education," said the minister. "We'll have a large education piece out there recommending that people, frankly, avoid any kind of distraction."

Larry Beechey, deputy commissioner of the Ontario Provincial Police, said his officers will begin enforcing the legislation as soon as it's passed.

"You see it all the time on the highways — people weaving around in the lanes, and there are collisions that are attributable to it and some fatalities, so it is a huge concern right now," he told Canadian Press."We're trying to make the highways safer, so this is just a part of what we do on a regular dayto day basis."

Mr. Bradley said he expects government employees to begin complying with the legislation as soon as it is introduced, but acknowledges it will take some time to get the enforcement and education programs under way.

Last month, the Ontario Medical Association released a paper indicating that speaking on a phone while driving puts drivers at "a significantly greater risk" of getting in an accident. Although it has advocate a ban on even using hands-free devices on grounds that doesn't really lower the accident risk, the association seems happy the government has taken some action.

"This has opened the dialogue," said OMA president-elect Suzanne Strasberg, adding: "We believe this legislation is going to make the roads safer," and noting early evidence from other jurisdictions shows similar legislation has reduced collisions.

The OMA says that according to the Ontario Road Safety Annual Report, there were 766 fatalities due to motor-vehicle collisions in Ontario in 2005 and 71,850 injuries due to collisions, resulting in close to 50,000 hospital days.

Kris Barnier of the Canadian Automobile Association said the new law would touch all drivers and called it a "great step."

The Canada Safety Council had opposed a ban on hand-held cellphones by motorists, saying such a law would be flouted and that police should instead enforce careless driving laws that are already on the books.

We're inclined to agree, and see a potential problem in the areas of penalties and enforcement.

Although using a hand-held cellphone in heavy traffic anywhere is undoubtedly dangerous, can the same really be said about the same activity when carried out in the absence of other traffic?

As we see it, a heavy fine for briefly answering an urgent call would be highly inappropriate, particularly if the roadway lacked safe shoulders.

(Clearly, the new law ought to provide one more good reason for Ontario to at last follow other jurisdictions in providing paved shoulders on all major highways.)

Clearly, our police forces should be urged to use discretion and not to treat the new law as potentially producing a "cash cow" for the local municipality.

When you think of it, it's surely a trifle bizarre that the first province to ban drivers' use of hand-held cellphones was sparsely populated Newfoundland and Labrador, which surely has no heavy traffic outside St. John's and Corner Brook.

It will be interesting to see how the Ontario legislation and the implementing regulations deal with some of the options available with the modern cellphone, but the combination of an earphone, voice-recognition software and a dashboard-mounted phone allowing a driver to initiate and continue a call without taking a hand off the steering wheel will apparently be permitted.

The government says it will allow handsfree cell calls through headsets or earpieces because the law would be difficult to enforce otherwise. Mr. Bradley said it would be impossible for police to tell whether the motorist was talking to a passenger, rehearsing a speech or singing along with the car radio.