65.9% of Ontario drivers say they never use their wireless device while driving, says OPP survey

Emailing, talking, texting and surfing the web on your mobile device while driving has been banned since October 2009. If a police officer catches you performing any of these actions you could face a fine upward of $500. At the time of its introduction there was an overwhelming 90% approval rate in support of the ban from Ontario drivers. The bigger goal was to make our roads safer and the solution was to purchase a Bluetooth headset or accessory.

Three years later the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) has released their 2012 Community Satisfaction Survey and it has some interesting stats on the use of devices while driving. According to their report, which surveyed 1,000 people over the phone, says that “89.9% of respondents said they were ‘not at all likely (I never do it)’ or ‘not very likely (I rarely do it)’ to use devices while driving.” Breaking it down even further reveals that 65.9% of Ontario driver say they never use their mobile device while driving, 24% rarely do it, 7.2% occasionally and only 2.9% “do it all the time.” In addition, men are more likely to use hand-held device while driving than women.

Unfortunately there’s no indication on the number of tickets that were handed out this year, or cumulatively over the past 3-years. That would be an interesting stats to see. The report also indicated that “64.2% of respondents were ‘very satisfied’ or ‘satisfied’ with the OPP’s enforcement
of distracted driving laws.”

Source: OPP (PDF)