Tough New Distracted Driving Laws Coming Into Effect

February 01, 2018, Kitchener, Ontario

Posted by: Robert Deutschmann, Personal Injury Lawyer

The Ontario Government announced in 2017 that it was changing legislation and bringing in much tougher new regulations around the plague on Ontario roads – distracted driving. Distracted driving is a leading cause of car accidents, and of car and pedestrian accidents, and car and bicycle accidents. It is hard to stop at any red light or stop sign in the Region and not see people looking at their phones, texting, talking, or even playing games. It has to stop.

The difficulty is that we are playing catch up with technology, and now with ingrained bad habits of middle aged drivers who began using the devices long before there were laws prohibiting their use. Phone companies and software developers have begun to enable ‘do not disturb’ modes for phones in cars but those only work if the driver enables them and doesn’t over ride them.

The new rules are hoped to be a strong deterrent against distracted driving. The new penalties will include measures that are harsh. The new rules will result in:

• Automatic driver’s licence suspension for convicted distracted drivers
• Substantial fines will be instated $1000 for first offence, $200 for second offence, $3000 on the third conviction
• People convicted more than once will get 6 demerit points

In Toronto alone there were 7, 435 crashes attributed to distracted driving including 8 fatalities and 2,642 personal injuries. The numbers of Ontario wide aren’t yet compiled. The magnitude of this problem is almost unfathomable. The financial costs to insurers, OHIP, individual drivers, pedestrians, bystanders, cyclists and taxpayers boggles the mind. The needless loss of life and personal injury is tragic.

Let’s hope that the new rules will deter people from driving while using their devices. You can read the entire News Release from the Ontario Government here. The legislation has passed, and is now awaiting Royal Ascent.

News Release

Ontario Cracking Down on Careless and Distracted Driving with Tough New Penalties

Province Taking Action to Keep Pedestrians, Cyclists and Drivers Safe

September 20, 2017 9:00 A.M.

Ministry of Transportation

Ontario plans to crack down on careless and distracted driving with tough new rules and penalties that would help improve road safety and keep the most vulnerable road users - including pedestrians and cyclists - safe. 

Minister of Transportation Steven Del Duca and Minister of Tourism, Culture and Sport Eleanor McMahon, were in Toronto today to announce the tough new road-safety measures. They were joined by Han Dong, MPP for Trinity-Spadina.

The province plans to introduce new legislation this fall that, if passed, would help protect pedestrians and cyclists and reduce the number of people killed or injured by impaired, distracted and dangerous drivers. The proposed measures include:

• A new offence for careless driving causing death or bodily harm with penalties that include fines, licence suspension and imprisonment
• Tougher penalties for distracted driving, such as using a cellphone while operating a vehicle, including higher fines, more demerit points, and license suspensions
• Increased penalties for drivers who fail to yield for pedestrians and escalating fines for drivers who are convicted of multiple pedestrian-related offences within a five-year window
• Expanding the use of rear flashing blue lights for enforcement and emergency vehicles.

In addition, the province is consulting on the use of cameras on school buses that capture the offence of illegally passing a school bus, so that this evidence can be admitted into court without a witness.

For 16 years in a row, Ontario's roads have been ranked either first or second safest in North America, but more can still be done. These strong measures add to recently-announced tough new penalties for those who drive under the influence of drugs, including cannabis.

Keeping Ontario's roads safe is part of our plan to create jobs, grow our economy and help people in their everyday lives.

Quick Facts

• On average, one person is killed on Ontario’s roads every 17 hours. In 2014, pedestrians and cyclists made up approximately 25 per cent of Ontario’s road fatalities.
• While drunk driving remains in the top-five killers on Ontario’s roads, the province’s most recent roadside survey found that drivers who tested positive for drugs were more than twice the number who tested positive for alcohol.
• The proposed legislation builds on existing measures Ontario has introduced to improve road safety including tougher impaired, distracted and street racing laws.
• In May Ontario passed legislation to protect the most vulnerable such as pedestrians and cyclists, by giving municipalities more tools to address speeding. These tools include the ability to set reduced default speed limits and use automated speed-enforcement systems on roads with speed limits below 80 km/h that are designated as community safety zones or in school zones.
• In June 2015, Ontario passed legislation to toughen penalties for offences such as distracted driving.
• The Ministry of Transportation hosted a road safety symposium in June with municipalities and many road safety partners to discuss a broad range of road safety concerns that helped shape the government’s proposed actions to help to save lives on Ontario’s roads.

Background Information

• Protecting Vulnerable Road Users

Additional Resources

• Road Safety
• Ontario Road Safety Annual Report 2014
• CycleON

About Deutschmann Law

Deutschmann Law serves South-Western Ontario with offices in Kitchener-Waterloo, Cambridge, Woodstock, Brantford, Stratford and Ayr. The law practice of Robert Deutschmann focuses almost exclusively in personal injury and disability insurance matters. For more information, please visit www.deutschmannlaw.com or call us at 1-519-742-7774.

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