Cellphones on the Highway

I finally gave in.  After years of resistance, I now have a cellphone.  Gone are the days where I was incognito as soon as I left home or the office.  Now, the office, my wife and more and more people know how to get me anytime.  Sure, I can turn off the phone, but it?s not worth the hassle.  ?Why wasn?t your phone on - I was trying to reach you? is what happens.  Saying ?I didn?t want to talk to you? is not an advisable excuse!

My phone has voice-activated dialling and a headset, which means that I can use it in the car without using my hands.  I have also used it in the car without the headset. 

There is more and more attention being drawn to the use of cellphones while driving.  The CAA discourages it.  Durham MPP John O?Toole has put forward a private member?s bill in the Ontario Legislature proposing to ban the use of cellphones and similar devices while operating a motor vehicle, unless they are of the hands-free variety.  In other words, if you want to have a conversation with a hand-held phone, pull over.

This month, there was an accident in Mississauga, where a man reportedly speaking on a cellphone ran a red light and broadsided another vehicle, seriously injuring two occupants. 

Presently, it isn?t illegal to use a cellphone in the car.  That does NOT mean that you can?t be charged with a driving offence. Sure, you cannot be charged with ?using a cellphone while driving?, but if you were driving along, chatting on the phone, not paying enough attention to the road and caused an accident, you would likely be charged with careless driving.  I think it is an appropriate charge.  Careless driving will cost you six demerit points and is a major conviction for insurance purposes (your premiums will increase to obscene levels). 

Speaking on the phone while driving can be distracting. In my opinion, speaking to someone on the phone is more distracting than speaking to a passenger in the car.  Add to that the fact that one of your hands is occupied with the phone.  If an emergency situation happened to you, are you able to react as quickly?  I doubt it. 

I now make a point of using the headset whenever I am in the car.  Not because I don?t want to get charged, but because I notice a difference.  With the headset on and the wire securely clipped so that I can?t get tangled in it, I feel much safer knowing that if something happens on the road, I am not restricted or hampered in any way. 

In highway emergencies, every tenth of a second counts. If you are travelling 100 km/hr and you are delayed from reacting by one tenth of a second, you have travelled nine feet further.  Nine feet is the difference between a crash and safety.  (Try using a stopwatch to see how quick a tenth of a second is.)

Well done Mr. O?Toole!