Driving to Waterloo, Ontario on ‘The 401,’ Canada’s busiest highway for a meeting with Research in Motion, texting on your BlackBerry (News - Alert) and then you see a black-and-white SUV in your rear view, driven by someone in a ‘Smokey the Bear’ hat who stares at you as the lights begin to flash. Several minutes later you pull over, again, and text, that you’re going to be late as you figure out how to cover the amount on the slip of paper that the officer had given you.

 

Just crossed the border, past the white Peace Arch, told Customs you’re heading to Vancouver, your AT&T phone rings from your buddy who scored you those Olympics tickets and a white car with multicolored stripes flags you over. Blue uniform with gold stripe, vest…doesn’t look like a Mountie. Where’s the famous red serge with the brown belt across the chest and the Smokey the Bear hat? A few minutes later you look at your first ‘souvenir’ of your visit, costing over a hundred bucks…how are you going to explain this one to the spouse?

 

Surprised? Shouldn’t be. Beginning today, both Ontario and British Columbia began fining drivers convicted of their provinces’ distracted driving laws.

 

The CBC reports that a grace period for Ontario drivers violating this new law has ended, meaning offending motorists are now subject to fines of $155 up to a maximum of $500. The legislation, which came into effect on Oct. 26, also covers texting or e-mailing while behind the wheel, or using portable video games or DVD players. Talking on a hands-free device is permitted.

 

There are no demerit points attached to the offense, said the story, but drivers who place others at risk by using one of the banned devices can also be charged under the existing careless driving laws. Some users of hand-held devices who were judged to be driving recklessly have already been charged.

 

Over the past three months, officers have charged more than 60 people across the province with distracted driving, Ontario Provincial Police Sgt. Dave Woodford told the CBC. He said he has seen a decrease in cell phone use among drivers on Ontario highways.

 

“We’re used to [seeing in] every other vehicle someone on their cell phone or texting. Now it's very rare that you're going to see anybody [on a phone],” he said to the CBC. “As soon as they see a cruiser, the first thing they do is get rid of the cell phone.”

 

In British Columbia motorists will be fined $167 under its law that went into effect Jan.1. If drivers are caught texting or e-mailing they will receive an additional three penalty points. Metro News.ca reports that provincial Solicitor General Kash Heed said police gave out warnings throughout January.

In an hour-long targeted enforcement initiative on Vancouver Island, 27 drivers on the Trans-Canada Highway were spotted talking on a handheld phone, reports the story. One driver who was pulled over continued to talk as the police officer approached the vehicle.

On the other hand the article cites an ICBC [Insurance Corporation of British Columbia, which supplies mandated motor vehicle insurance] study at Denman and Georgia streets in downtown Vancouver last December found 116 drivers chatting away during rush hour. A survey at the same location last week found 31 drivers on their cell phones.

There are signs that “people seem to be getting the message,” Heed was quoted in the paper.

 

Whether these laws will reduce accidents and deaths in those provinces and elsewhere is now up for dispute. The Canadian Press reports that a new study from the insurance industry finds that state laws banning the use of handheld devices to make a call or send a text message while driving have not resulted in fewer vehicle crashes.

 

The CP said the study, released by the Highway Loss Data Institute on Friday, examined insurance claims from crashes before and after such bans took effect in California, New York, Connecticut and Washington, D.C. The organization found that claims rates did not go down after the laws were enacted. It also found no change in patterns compared with nearby states without such bans.

 

Six states and the District of Columbia ban talking on a hand-held device for all drivers, while 19 states and the District of Columbia ban texting while driving, according to the Governors Highway Safety Association, said the story.

 

The Highway Loss Data Institute, an affiliate of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, said its findings 'don't match what we already know about the risk of phoning and texting while driving' and said it is gathering data to 'figure out this mismatch.'

 

The CP reported that the institute said one potential explanation could be an increase in the use of hands-free devices in places with bans on handset use while driving.

 

Jonathan Adkins, a spokesman for the governors association, said the new study 'raises as many questions as it answers.' The group, said the CP, is concerned that bans on handheld devices simply encourage more drivers to use hands-free devices, which, it says, are just as risky.

 

The governors association is urging states to pass texting bans, but hold off on banning other cell phone use while driving until there is more data, said the CP. The National Safety Council, meanwhile, supports a total ban on cell phone use while driving, including the use of hands-free devices.