Ban on using handheld cell phones while driving likely limited to Newfoundland

The Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association (CWTA) doesn’t plan to alter its safe driving education campaign following Newfoundland and Labrador’s passing of a bill banning the use of handheld cell phones while driving. Passed on December 19, the law will give the province’s police officers the right to levy $45 to $180 fines and will cost drivers demerit points on their driver’s licence. The new law is expected to come into effect in late March or early April. "Our position hasn’t changed. We think the best ways of doing things is to use the existing distracted driver legislation," Peter Barnes, president and CEO of the CWTA, tells Report on Wireless. "The message is that drivers have to exercise due care and attention and if they don’t there are penalties for that. That legislation coupled with education efforts is a better way of dealing with the issue." Barnes doesn’t expect the precedent set in Canada’s eastern-most province to take hold in any other jurisdictions. Last fall, the provincial transport ministers met for their annual meeting and the Newfoundland minister was the only one advocating the passing of a specific law banning the use of handheld cell phones while driving, he explains. General sentiment at the meetings was to apply existing laws and make greater efforts in other areas, he adds. Additionally, Barnes notes that the current body of research doesn’t support such a ban (RoW, June 11/02). He says the majority of the research is American-based, but the University of Montreal is currently undertaking a further analysis of another data set. Original data were gathered a year ago. In recent months, there has seemingly been an increase in support for banning the use of handheld cell phones while driving. In addition to the ban instituted in Newfoundland, a Whitby ON coroner’s jury recommended the Ontario government consider a similar ban last September (RoW, Sept. 30/02). That recommendation may have added fuel to a private member’s bill in Ontario. Ontario government member John O’Toole introduced a private member’s bill in May 2001 calling for a similar ban. Bill 49 has since passed second reading and is now in the hands of the Standing Committee on General Government (RoW Update, Oct. 21/02).The committee clerk tells Report on Wireless that no action has been taken on the bill since it went to committee last October. The clerk explains that once the government returns from recess in the third week of March, a sub-committee will then meet to determine the order of bills to be discussed and any other actions to be taken. While there was certainly an appetite in Newfoundland to pass such a law and it remains to be seen whether there is a similar sentiment in Ontario, the Alberta government didn’t believe such legislative action was in the public interest. Last year, Ralph Klein’s provincial Conservatives defeated a private member’s bill calling for a ban on the use of handheld cell phones while driving.

Ban on using handheld cell phones while driving likely limited to Newfoundland

News | 01/20/2003 5:00 am EST

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