Cell Phone Driving Ban: Your Call

There are few things that get people more riled up than when their creature comforts are threatened. So when we put out a call for your reaction to a cell phone ban and other electronic devices introduced at Queen’s Park on Tuesday, the reaction was overwhelming.

Some of you clearly favour the idea. Others call it a ‘cash grab’ and a case of government gone too far. And a select few don’t think it goes far enough.

But the one thing that came up over and over again from both sides is whether it can ever really be enforced?

Here’s a sample of some of what you wrote us about – hopefully not while you were behind the wheel.

“I’m in favour of the ban. Before the availability of Bluetooth head sets, I was guilty of running a red light while on the phone. Since then, I stopped making/answering calls while driving. I now have a Bluetooth headset. It is less distracting, but I must admit that it still takes away a bit of my concentration on my driving. So I try to limit its use as well.

“I think it will be difficult to enforce the ban. In many cases, I can just see violators simply putting down the handheld phone when they see a cop, then resume talking when the coast is clear.

“Overall, I believe the ban is a good deterrent. Just like speeding, many will abide by the rules, and many will take the risk.”
Norlyn Tungol

“This law will be very difficult to enforce. Most people text message with their phones while looking down, they don’t hold it to their ears.  There is no way officers will be able to absolutely determine that they were text messaging on their phones without being able to see them from alongside, ahead, or behind a suspect vehicle.

“I believe the province should make better use of their time dealing with our climbing murder rate rather than this issue.  This will be a pure “Cash Grab” for the province and will just clog our already overloaded justice system further.”
Steven R.

“Motorists were involved in accidents due to inattentive driving decades before the advent of cell phones and no studies have proven that cell phones cause accidents. A driver should be able to choose whether or not to use a cell phone while driving. Government should not list what a driver can or cannot do in his car as long as he is obeying speed limits, stopping at a stop sign and making safe lane changes.”
Ravindra Kumar

“I absolutely think that this is well overdue.  We should have had a law in place years ago banning cell phone usage while driving. A little boy was run over in Oshawa a few years ago and the driver of the car that hit him was on a cell phone.
 
“Last year, I was crossing a busy intersection and this girl was making a left-hand turn and I literally had to run or she would have hit me.  She was not even looking at the road!  She was too engrossed in her conversation on the cell phone.
 
“I see countless driver errors and usually they have a cell phone in their hand.  I think drivers will tend to signal more often if they are not holding on to a cell phone.  This should decrease the number of accidents reported each year.”
Lauri Baker

“It should have been done many, many years ago. I work at Rehab clinic dealing with the patients injured in the MVA and, believe me, at least 25% of cases related in some way or another to the use of cell phones.”
Gennady Filin, psychotherapist

“There are way too many people making phone calls that require their attention and concentration while driving. Using a Bluetooth wireless headset will not fix this problem as the headset is not the problem; it’s the type of the conversation that is the problem.

“Your spouse calling and asking you to pick up a jug of milk on your way home is not something that requires your utmost attention. Fumbling around for your Bluetooth would be more of a distraction than just answering the phone in the first place. However talking to your lawyer about your upcoming divorce or your stock broker about your financial affairs is another matter.

“Conversions that will have any kind of emotional stimulation or require any form of concentration should be kept off the road, wireless or not. The real problem though, how can a law enforcement officer tell what type of conversation you’re having?”
Paul Napran

“I agree with not being allowed to text or email as that makes you look away from the road but not speaking on a cell phone.”
Tania Cappabianca

“We don’t need more government controls. Let’s ban Tim Horton drive-thru’s, McDonalds etc, all are about using your hands to do something other than drive.

“Don’t talk to the passenger, they might distract you, don’t have kids in your car, they might distract you, change radio stations in your car. What about smoking while driving? Have doctors petition to ban that, can’t smoke inside, can’t smoke in your car .

Let the legislators do something more productive with their time that we are paying them to do.”
Tom Bushell

“As great as this sounds, how enforceable will this be? Once again, will it be our word against the police? It’s not like they can take a picture of you on the phone to prove you were talking on it. Truthfully, it is difficult to enforce. I believe it will be another cog in the wheel of justice and take up valuable time in our court systems.

“Don’t think for one moment that people will not try and fight these charges. This will be a strong fight by consumers not wanting their insurance rates to go up. It seems like another cash grab instead of actually trying to help with prevention of accidents.”
Patricia Bianchi-Morfino

“I think I’m going to start a collection of photos of police abusing those same bans as I have seen an incredible amount of police using cell phones while driving and I think this should be outlawed if people will be outlawed.”
Martin Szomolanyi

“I’m not saying I’m for or against the new law on cell phones, however if they are banned in vehicles, there is absolutely no way to enforce the law. If someone sees another person on their phone in the car, it’s not like they will be able to call it in, not to mention in the case of an emergency? If you’re not hands free, are you still allowed to use your phone? And texting doesn’t require your phone to your ear. You can do that out of sight. Not to mention a lot of vehicles have tint covering the windows.”
Shaun Zuidema

“I feel this decision should have been in place along time ago.  Cell phones or any other electronic devices should not be used while operating a motor vehicle. It’s about time we take this issue seriously.”
Maria Kirshenblatt

“My wife and me both say YES to the ban! I once saw a guy on the QEW talking on his cell phone from the Humber to Hwy 27 and then switching to an electric shaver.”
John  Pettigrew

“In Washington state the offense is termed a “secondary offense” meaning that you only get a ticket for using your cellphone or texting if you’ve already been pulled over for another offense.  The exceptions sound very reasonable also and include hands free devices, operating emergency use vehicles or tow trucks, reporting a crime or calling for emergency assistance, and the use of amateur radio equipment by licensed amateur radio operators. 

“Out of all the laws I’ve read this one seems to be written in a sane and reasonable manner. Let’s hope our people in Queen’s Park are as good.”
Edward Kuhn

“I’m only 46 and I can remember getting along just fine without a phone stuck in my ear all the time. I actually felt that I had more freedom without it. Since I had no cell phone I did not get calls requesting me to do this, or to pick up that or reminding me of things I didn’t forget in the first place. Do we really have to be on a phone while driving?”
William Bince

John McKay

“I think the cell phone ban will be easily enforceable. You can usually tell when someone is talking on a cell phone by the way they are driving. I’m in favour of the ban because we have so many bad drivers on the road already.”
Jamie Brennan

“I would also suggest the ban of putting makeup and grooming while driving. I take the DVP everyday and see these women applying makeup and eyeliners. I fully agree the ban.”
Farzana J

“I think it’s a great idea to ban cell phone use while driving. Too many drivers are driving half-heartedly.  Just yesterday, I was almost hit because a driver was talking on the phone while changing lanes. Obviously, the lady had no hand to signal the lane change and cannot turn her head to check the blind spot!”
Jane Smith

“Legislation needs to include hands-free devices because we need driver’s “Minds on the Road” as well as “Hands on the Wheel”. Let Ontario be the first jurisdiction in the world to do this thing right.”
Bob McMaster

“The ban is a very good idea.  For a while now I have been observing how long pedestrians have to wait to cross at a crosswalk and often 3 or 4 cars would drive by before they get to finally cross, and the yellow lights are flashing.  A lot of these drivers are on the phone.”
Patrick Fahn

And finally, a succinct response from one viewer who more than favours a total ban.

“OUTLAW the *&)%^-ing things!”
 H. Reindel