Let's start to stop approaching a green to check the phone

[GTA Driver]

As of January 1, Ontario has one of the most, perhaps the most, severe penalties for distracted drving.

• First offence: 3 days suspension and $1,000 fine, 6 demerit points
• Second offence: 7 days suspension and $2,000 fine, 6 demerit points
• Three or more offences: 30 days suspension, $3,000 fine and 6 demerit points

Sources

• https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/distracted-driving-texting-ontario-penalties-1.4939223
• https://www.narcity.com/news/ontarios-new-distracted-driving-laws-to-take-effect-jan-1-2019
• https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/thunder-bay/distracted-driving-penalty-increase-1.4916615

So weeks before January 1, I saw on the news the police hoping this would be a deterrent.

On Jan 4, only a few days of the new law coming into effect

Driver a little ahead of me, to the left starts to brake approaching a green light. I look to my side when we are stopped and see she is persistently checking something to her left on the seat. She looks almost lost.​

She continues to check something on the seat even when the opposing direction has an advanced green. We have a green light for a few seconds before she moves.​

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She then makes a left turn not far from the intersection, where she could have safely stopped to check what ever she was looking at as opposed to holding traffic up.​

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While all of this happening, I overlooked the pedestrian that crossed on a red light.​

 

[SawMaster]

I hate such laws when they specify certain things as being 'distractive' when for many of us they are not Might as well close all the drive-through restaurant windows now as a lot of people eat and drive safely but we're overlooked. Ditto on electronic devices- my cellphone is my watch and it's no more unsafe to look at than a pocket-watch would be. But this is the trend of thinking these days

You're punishing an act, not an action, when that act can and might be safe even though the action isn't. I know better than to use my phone or eat when it's not safe to do so, for I'm first for safety then for what I want to do after that if I can. The fact that not everybody is like me is no valid reason to punish me for the deeds of others who cannot or will not make this kind of safe decision as I do. If a driver is clearly distracted no matter the reason they should be punished. Nothing in the law prohibits those who have to look directly as who they are speaking with from doing that. Nor does it address driving parents trying to stop their kids from fighting in the back seat by turning around and yelling at them. Nor does it apply to mounted devices even though many car audio systems require close attention to their screen when making adjustments. I've seen or known of these things causing crashes numerous times but they're not covered here There's no way possible to cover every possible distracting act so why not just cover the action instead? Because it's not the act which has the potential to harm but only the action.

Rant over and wishing this world made better sense than it does
Phil

 

[Mozzie]

Phone use laws are severe but the younger generation here don't care. They seem to care more about their social media than the penalty. It probably wouldn't make any difference if they increased the fines.

 

[GTA Driver]

Phone use laws are severe but the younger generation here don't care. They seem to care more about their social media than the penalty. It probably wouldn't make any difference if they increased the fines.

I find all generations of drivers here are distracted. We are on our third round of distracted driving laws since around 2009. If I can recall correctly,it was around $150, then 450, now first time offence is $1000. Back in 2009 or 2010, for a few months after the law was enacted, there was little in the way of distracted driving. I See it as much now, as I did last month when the fine was less than half of what is now.