Bill 118: Fines for Cell Phones Usage While Driving in Ontario

Photos

Mobile cell talk illegal.. but is Toronto listening?

see larger image

uploaded by Tomitheos Linardos

The Drive Safe Ontario legislation banning cell phones while you drive is effective today after a 3-month grace period.

The new "distracted driving law - eyes on the road and hands on the wheel Bill 118 -  first introduced in late October 2009 is now law. Drivers cannot use certain digital wireless systems unless they have safely pulled over. 

Fines and Prohibited Handheld Devices

Ontario citizens are not to use any sort of handheld electronic communication devices while driving, in a traffic jam and even while stopped at a red light. Fines start at a $155 up to $500. 

Exempt are handsfree devices and dash-mounted global positioning systems (GPS), however, if a driver is using a hands free device 'while putting others at risk' it can cost up to a $1000, 6 demerit points, license suspension and possible jail.

Prohibited devices include:

• iPods
• Blackberrys,
  
• portable dvds,
  
• mp3 players,
  
• laptops,
  
• handheld games,
  
• devices for emailing and texting
  

Similar legislation has been in effect in British Columbia since Jan. 1, but starting Monday drivers in that province caught using a hand-held cellphone could be fined $167 and people texting or emailing will net three demerit points, according to the Canadian Press.

A Canadian based technology in Vancouver has recently developed a way to block wireless signals inside a moving vehicle. The company claims it was designed primarily to minimize preventable accidents from driver distraction.

Cell Phone Radiation Risks

However, late in 2009 the World Health Organization (WHO) recommended ways to minimize exposure to lower radiation exposure for drivers and passengers that are confined in a small space like the vehicle cabin.

Cellular technology functions in the microwave range using electromagnetic radiation, which some scientific research stipulates may be harmful to the human brain. These concerns have increased with the enormous growth in wireless device usage over the past couple of years - now 2 billion users world wide.

Loss of Focus Increases Risk of Accidents

In human brain psychological experiments, studies have shown that speaking and 'planning to speak' can deplete the brain’s resources more than listening. Subjects were more likely to be distracted while preparing to speak than when listening to speech at a ratio of 4:1.

Although an in-vehicle passenger or the car radio may audibly distract the driver, transportation test simulations found that drivers carrying out a conversation on a cell phone were more likely to overlook traffic and road signs.

Text messaging had the greatest relative risk since texting entices the driver to glance away from the road  causing up to 6x the likeliness of missing traffic hazards. It is 20 times more likely for a driver to experience a safety-critical event when texting.