Text later, arrive alive

Header image for Interrobang article CREDIT: DRIVENOWTEXTLATER.ORG
Fines for distracted are going up in Ontario to $280 on March 18.

Put down your phones while you're driving, because fines are increasing from $155 to $280 effective March 18.

Ministry of Transportation spokesperson Bob Nichols said the increase comes with texting and driving continuing to be a prevalent problem.

“While we have seen success with our distracted driving law and public education efforts, distracted driving continues to be a growing problem on the province's roads.”

Sgt. Ryan Scrivens of the London Police Services hopes the increased fine will discourage use of hand-held devices while driving.

“Distracted driving ... is one of the leading causes of serious injury and deaths on our roads with respect to motor vehicle collisions,” he said. “It's hopefully [a] deterrent to make people focus on their driving and put their phones down.”

According to Scrivens, London has seen a 58.5 per cent increase from last year in offense notices given to people who were driving while either talking or texting on their phones.

“For the price of a Bluetooth, you can drive legally and still communicate hands-free, which is not against the law,” he said. “Or you can continue to contravene the law and drive while holding your phone and/or worse, text while you're driving, which does increase your chances of being involved in a collision by more than 23 times.”

Nichols explained that increasing the fine will hopefully discourage “inattentive” driving before the situation gets worse.

“In 2010 there were 65 drivers involved in fatal collisions that were coded by the police officer as ‘inattentive,'” he said. “From 2000 to 2010, there has been a 62 per cent increase in the number of fatalities and a 35 per cent increase in the number of injuries ... inattentive driving is expected to be a more significant factor in fatalities than drinking and driving starting in 2016.”

Use of cellphones has skyrocketed in recent years, but Scrivens said no one age group is guiltier than another. “It applies across the board.”

“There's no one denomination that's exempt from this,” he said. “Whether you're a busy parent ... you're a business person ... you're a popular adolescent … we all have phones and those types of devices for different reasons.”

However, Scrivens said newer and younger drivers who have obtained their licenses since 2009 are “compliant” thanks to education.

“Often some of those people are very compliant with the law because they were educated both at the Ministry level when they got their license and also prior to that in school from a presentation ... about the perils of texting and driving and they responded accordingly.”

Though at this time, demerit points are left untouched if fined, Scrivens said it doesn't mean there won't be revisions in the future.

“This could be a step in that direction and maybe there's an assessment period and maybe sooner than later, there may be demerit points associated with it, there may not be. Only time will tell.”

“Anyone who chooses to put others at risk by driving while distracted, for whatever reason, can still be charged with Careless Driving or Dangerous Driving,” said Nichols. “If convicted, drivers may receive six demerit points, fines up to $2,000 and possible jail time.”

If you must, Scrivens suggested having a passenger text for you.

“We all could be guilty of being addicted to our phones ... Once you get into the vehicle and you're driving ... you put your phone in a secure location like the trunk where you can't even be tempted … you put it on silent or you hook it up to a Bluetooth and use it that way, but it needs to be a routine; something that people do every time they enter a vehicle, like putting on a seatbelt, adjusting your mirrors, you do the same thing with your phone.”