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OPP targeting distracted drivers next week, “no excuses, no exceptions”
The OPP is getting ready to hit the streets and target those using their mobile device while driving. Between February 13th to 19th officers “will be conducting highly-visible enforcement of distracted driving laws in an effort to protect drivers, their passengers and other road users from the needless loss of life on our roads”. Apparently 5 weeks into 2012 has already brought the number of distraction-related casualties to 8. If you’re caught talking, texting, emailing you could face a fine of upwards of $155; plus “watching an entertainment device” such as a movie on a tablet could set you back $110.
Chief Superintendent Don Bell, Commander of the OPP Highway Safety Division, said “Whether you’re texting, talking, reading or shaving, a diversion – any diversion of attention that lowers one’s ability to focus on driving can happen and within seconds, someone else could die”.
So there you have it… OPP will be in full force next week.
Source: CNW
Discussion
50 comments for “OPP targeting distracted drivers next week, “no excuses, no exceptions””
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What about watching the movie from the car in front of you ?
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Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
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Also would this include food or drinks behind the wheel because frankly i know more people who have been distracted by those then anything else combined
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I think they should expand this to changing the radio station because you have to take your eyes off the road to do that. Talking to someone else in the vehicle also diverts your attention so that should be banned. Children, as we all know, never fully behave so they should also be banned from all motorized vehicles that are in motion. Any violation of these rules should result in a million dollar fine and the permanent loss of your licence.
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I’ve heard this anarchist garbage before. Blah, blah, all laws suck, I want to speed and go through stop signs and anyone who gives me a ticket is a nazi. You’re not so important that you can’t miss a call.
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That is simply taking it too far i for one don’t have to take my eyes of the road to change the radio station. If your going to do that you should also outlaw speaking to your passengers, because that is also distracting. Smoking and driving should be illegal too, you have to take a hand off the wheel for that, while we’re at it we should bann one armed drivers.
Talking, texting and emailing should all face stiff fines. eating behind the wheel should probably be banned (you can be charged with distracted driving while eating, but it’s not specifically forbidden and at officers decretion) People also need to accept that life in dangerous and any time you let the general public control a two tonne projectile people are going to die not matter how hard to try and prevent it.
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Why is Dalton in this picture?
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Dalton can’t wait to get your money!
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The fines are too low. It should be a thousand dollars. If watching a movie on a tablet is just as distracting, as talking, text, reading and shaving, why is the fines different?
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Be honest, guys, when was the last time you’ve been in an accident due to talking on your phone?
I haven’t used a cell while driving since the law passed, but I was on the road for 10 years prior to that, and never even once did I feel distracted while having a phone conversation.
I don’t know. Seems to me some people are just bad drivers, whether they talk on the phone or not.
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Ron, when was the last time you were in an accident, at all? Accidents are actually pretty rare overall, but since there are tons of drivers, the numbers add up. I’ve also lost count of the number of times I’ve seen some jackass on the phone do something dangerous while driving… they swerve all over, brake too late, drive too fast or slow, etc. And stats show that distracted drivers cause more accidents, and that removing distractions like phones reduces accidents.
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I can’t speak for everyone, but from my personal experience, a cellphone is not a distraction for me. I can back it up by my clean driving record of 10 years – that’s a statistic as well, isn’t it?
How about radio? Eating a donut? Taking a quick peak at your GPS? Yawning? Wiping your eyes? Taking a sip of water? Are those also not “destractions”? Should all this be putlawed as well? I am sure that statistics will back it up.
And, at the end of the day, aren’t we all still taking on the phone, though we don’t hold it to out ears like we used it? Are we really LESS distracted?
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BS that it is not a distraction for you. You just think you’re perfect or refuse to concede common sense. Chewing a donut doesn’t take the same cognitive effort as removing your had from the wheel, moving your eyes off the road to dial, dialing with your fingers, holding the phone to your ear, and engaging in a conversation.
Blowhard like to brag that they are masters at multitasking, therefore immune to every being distracted while driving. The human brain is actually very good at multitasking two separate activities at the same time. Everybody. But only two activity, and that applies to everybody too. The problem is that you can drive, and you can talk of the phone, but throw in a 3rd distraction and you’re screwed.
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I would much rather than a 1000 people be slightly inconvenienced than one distracted driver seriously hurt or kill someone on the road.
There is also a difference between levels of distraction from a conversation/ text messaging and eating/ drinking etc. Someone mentioned the term “cognitive effort”.
Lastly, staying hydrated or occasional peeks at GPS actually assist in the driving experience (if they are done in a safe manner.. e.g. drink through a straw so your field of vision is not blocked; peek at the GPS rather than stare out the window looking for signs on the roads).
Having a phone conversation or texting are more dangerous because they occupy at least one your hands and you are actively thinking about something else. (again, responsible driving would involve taking incoming calls on a hands-free). Watching a movie/ youtube clip on your phone is pure entertainment.. not what roads are meant for.
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Why is Dalton personating a police officer, isn’t that a indictable offence, he should be charged for doing that. And second Police officers should follow the laws as well and not use their cellphones while driving, and not use their on board computers while driving. I’ve seen tons of accidents caused by distracted police officers while using their computers or talking on the phone and they’ve killed people, this law should be followed by them as well. This law shouldn’t be targeted to certain people, it should be everyone or no one
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A lot of you forget that police officers take more advanced driving courses than any of us. They are trained to multitask while behind the wheel because their job depends on it.
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Hmmm.. Talking on a phone is upwards of $155 but watching a movie on a tablet is less at $110?
There’s so many distractions for drivers and I wish they would enforce more than just the cell phone. Obviously texting while driving is incredible dangerous – continuous focus of your eyes on the phone than at the road, but I see so much stupid s**t every day commuting and there never seems to be complaints about it.
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Does this include smoking now too?
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That’s a good argument
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F**k you dalton, can’t wait till you get money from us.
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what about the opp on the phone or typing on their computer when they are driving. can we give them a ticket
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The police and emergency services are exempt from this law if it is in the performance of their duties. they are not to be having private conversations on their phones while driving.
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So if it is work related it’s not a distraction? Only if its personal? What if my call is work related? Surely I’m not being distracted since it involves my “day to day duties”
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I see cops talking on their phone and driving all the time in addition to: hitting the cherries to do through red lights, not signaling, smoking in the cruiser, shopping on clock. Too bad cops don’t police each other, they could have officers policing the police full time and they’d never be short of work, thats for sure.
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“If you’re caught talking, texting, emailing you could face a fine of upwards of $155; plus “watching an entertainment device” such as a movie on a tablet could set you back $110.”
Alberta has a flat $172 fine for anything. Phone, tablet, movie, make-up, buffet, etc.
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The police don’t give sh*t about the laws that apply to them. they do what ever they want because they can. a lot of them will speed above the posted limit, they don’t signal when they turn or change lanes. just the other day i saw a cruiser pass by and the cop was chit chatting on his cell.
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Honestly, the only thing they care about is meeting their targets assigned by the police department. They themselves (not all but some (actually mostly)) dont give a rats a*s about any of these laws.
I read somewhere last year how they cought their own man speeding after work.
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I am listening to Youtube ( which has Video ) and the phone is in the GPS holster on the Dash
So I am screwed?
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Considering the amount of people that I’ve witnessed doing everything from shaving and eating cereal to doing their makeup with the visor down…. while driving, I welcome this. And to all those that are complaining and saying that they have a clean driving record, blahblahblah…. well, research has proven time and time again that talking on your cell does make you a much worse driver than you normally are. Stop all your whining, and either get a bluetooth headset or just don’t answer your phone when you’re driving.
http://www.medicine.ucalgary.ca/about/cellphonedrivingalberta
http://www.psych.utah.edu/lab/appliedcognition/publications.html
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Honestly holding something physically with one hand driving a shift-stick is the worst offence IMO. I know some girls who drive stick while smoking, and eating or talking on the phone or putting make up on. While I appreciate the need to multitask, do it while stopped.
I avoid being in the same car with them at all cost! But unfortunately any effort of reasoning with them falls on deaf ears.
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There is no need to hold a cellphone while driving. There are Bluetooth products out there for every vehicle. For any onstar equipped vehicle there is the BlueStar 2010. It replace the Onstar module and gives you Bluetooth with your phone using their system.
For other models, there is the Parrot Bluetooth.
It is just not worth not having Bluetooth in your vehicle.
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People should be able to do what ever they want in their own vehicles, its not the Government paying your car payments is it. If your not getting into accidents then who cares, if the person gets into a accident then give them a ticket, other than that the Government can screw themselves. And who cares if the person doesn’t wear a seatbelt, its only themselves their gonna get hurt. Some with people not wearing a helmet while riding a bicycle, its not a law to wear one. The Government needs to butt out of peoples lives and let us have our freedoms that our Military Fights for us everyday. If I want to talk on cellphone while driving thats my business. Its my car I pay for. But if I do get into an accident, then by all means give me a hefty ticket, I deserve it for causig an accident, but don’t fine me before I actually do something wrong. Its like arresting someone before they committed the offence just to make people safe, like that movie with Tom Cruise with future cops knowing before a crime will be committed and arrested the subjects before they committed the crime.
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Peter, what would your prefer?
Case 1- a guy is talking on the phone while driving. Cop pulls him over and gives him a $200 fine. Guy is too reluctant to talk and drive again.
Case 2- same is is talking on the phone while driving. In a moment of distraction he runs over a pedestrian. Pedestrian happened to be your loved one. Now he owes $50000 to the government in a “Fine” and goes to jail for manslaughter.
Your loved one is gone for ever.
So which case do you prefer?
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@Peter are you serious? We should just wait till you seriously injure someone. Why don’t we look at what we know is a proven issue and and prevent it before it happens.
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is that Dalton???
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But its okay for police to have a f*****g laptop and CB open at all times while driving.
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everytime a police cruiser pops his siren/lights and runs a red, im always thinking man that guy really wants his donuts.
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What we need is a crack down on all these asians that have obviously gotten their liscenses with a payoff because there’s no freaking way they passed a test.
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I was on the freeway last summer doing 110km/hr in morning rush hour when I looked over to the next car and the lady was reading a book while driving! Get these people to change their ways.
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@SAM
What we need is a crack down on all these North Americans that have obviously gotten their liscenses with a bieng naked and show off body of by offering some weed to smoke because there’s no freaking way they passed a test.
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This topic is so controversial, I read any related news that the reason they put using cell phone is because comparing to food or beverage, it’s much easier to pass to law. Think about this, eating and driving is just as much as dangerous of talking on a phone or texting. So the in this way, we all need new bluetooth set and that’s an extra profit. But no food? how to generate more money and saving more time from that?
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I guess I should stop talking to others in the car, or even take my hand off the wheel to shift. Clearly those are also deemed distractions.
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The lack of maturity in these comments is truly sad.
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Welcome to the internet.
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I don’t understand how using a bluetooth headset vs holding a cell phone in your hand makes a difference in the level of distraction. Either way you are still having that conversation which requires “cognitive effort” as others have put it. The act of having the conversation is distracting not holding the phone, by extension having any converstaion is distracting.
I’m much more distracted when my girlfriend is in my car yet i still drive safe and remain very alert. It’s not distracted drives that cause accidents; its people who haven’t been thought how to drive properly that cause accidents.
Might as well ban anything that requires you to take one hand off the wheel.
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@sunny Then Police officers should not be using their cellphones or on board computers while driving as well, cause its just as easy for them to run over a pedestrian while being distracted as everyone else could also. I see it all the time Poice cruisers involved in major accidents here in Ottawa. A RCMP cruiser got into an accident on Rideau street a few years ago and killed a pedestrian because this officer was driving while distracted. And another Ottawa Police Cruiser got into an accident on the corner of Baseline and Woodroffe and hit a fire truck while driving distracted by looking down on his computer. Can’t tell me that this law should be ignored by Police officers while others have to obey it, its ludacris. Police Officers have accidents just as much as everyone else. So my point of view is, I will talk on my cellphone as much as I want until all Police Officers follow the law as well, and if they give me a ticket, I will just rip it up in their face.
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We are all a little carzy sometimes. When Krispy Kreme first opened in Mississauga, my friend and I were waiting the customary 40 minutes in the drive thru, when an OPP cruiser put on his lights and bypassed the entire line, picked up 4 dozen doughnuts and took off. Police business eh?
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I see cops all the time turning on their siren and lights to go threw a red light to only then turn it all off and pull into a tim hortons to get their donut and coffee fix, so therre ya go they break the law and go threw a red light for no reason. Or cops always speed in their civilian cars and get away with it cause if they get pulled over they show there little shiny badge and their buddies say oh sorry mister fellow officer for pulling you over have a nice day. And then they pull into a tim hortons and have a donut and a coffee together cause their best buds. They should change the laws here in Canada, if any one sees a dirty cop doing something bad you have the right to arrest them no questions asked.
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I just happened to catch reflection of my face… and guess what? It was the “Are you serious” Rage Face.
You are all sheep governed by a self-centered entity you may refer to as the Wolf. The Wolf is void of all things super, the moment the inferior ceases to be, thus it is in the Wolf’s best interst to preserve the masses.
Simply put, you’d wish you’d missed that one call while lyin’ in the dirt with no hands to wipe the blood dripping down your eyes ’cause you can’t see your “will be” mutilated carcass.
Trust me on this one.
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What about police always starring into their computers while driving around? that is more reckless than anything else. Every time i see a cop car driving the driver is always focused into their computer and not on the road. All police should have to pay their fine now!
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