Cell phone use while driving still prevalent, 10 years after ban
Posted Jan 6, 2018 06:17:00 PM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Other motorists and their passengers recognize the common phone-use signal: the positioning of the head of the distracted person behind the wheel – periodically tilted downward – while his or her car is moving along a highway, on a major thoroughfare in the Halifax region or crossing one of our harbour bridges.
Usually, just one hand is on the steering wheel because the other is operating a mobile phone. But occasionally a driver can be seen with both hands touching the wheel, as he or she tries to guide a vehicle without incident while texting at the same time.
This spring will mark the 10-year anniversary of Nova Scotia’s law prohibiting cell phone conversations or texting while operating a vehicle. Nearly a decade after the section was added to the province’s Motor Vehicle Act, distracted driving can still be spotted in the city and elsewhere.
In the Halifax area, more than 1,100 motorists every year get ticketed for using their hand-held cell phones, or other communication gizmos, while driving. Last year, 1,529 tickets were issued, said a Halifax Regional Police spokeswoman. In 2016, police handed out 1,167 tickets.
Nova Scotia’s fine for cell phone use while driving can reach up to $582.50, a government communications advisor said on Jan. 4. Demerit points are also added upon conviction.
Prince Edward Island’s penalty can be up to $1,275, Newfoundland and Labrador issue tickets up to $1,000 and New Brunswick’s fine is $172.50.
According to the Canadian Automobile Association, the road safety message about not using a cell phone while driving isn’t getting through to a lot of vehicle users. The consequences of dangerous driving, of course, can be deadly.
In 2016, distracted driving led to more than 140 serious and fatal crashes in Nova Scotia, the RCMP said in a release last March.
Regarding phone use, the CAA says drivers talking on a communication device are four to five times more likely to be involved in a collision compared to non-distracted motorists. Drivers text messaging behind the wheel are 23 times more likely to be in a crash.
A 2016 CBC News item cited on the association’s website provides this sobering detail: “Police across Canada say that distracted driving has caused more collisions than impaired drivers.”
The good news is plenty of people take seriously the rule about no phone use while driving.
For instance, during the course of a year, members of Halifax council receive numerous phone calls – including those placed to their cell phones while they’re operating their vehicles. A couple of councillors said recently they have hands-free phone technology in their cars, if the need arises.
Coun. Tim Outhit (Bedford-Wentworth) told HalifaxToday.ca that if he has to take a phone call while driving, “I usually pull over, or wait until I have arrived at my destination, to make calls.”
Coun. David Hendsbee (Preston-Chezzetcook- Eastern Shore) said “most times I shut my phone while driving – and I hate it when people text me. I ignore them until I’m stopped.”
The CAA wants drivers to stay focused on the road. One way of doing that is to let all cell phone calls go to voicemail, it says.
Another would be to simply shut off your mobile device and put it away before turning the ignition key.
Michael Lightstone is a freelance reporter living in Dartmouth
