Distracted Driving — Ontario G1 Study Guide

The Importance of Full Attention:

Driving is a job that requires your full attention every time you get behind the wheel, even if your vehicle has driver-assistance features. Any secondary activity will detract from your ability to drive properly and safely. You must reduce distractions and focus on your driving.

Legal Restrictions:

Ontario's distracted driving laws apply to the use of hand-held communication/entertainment devices and certain display screens.

While you are driving, including when you are stopped in traffic or at a red light, it is illegal to:

• Use a phone or other hand-held wireless communication device to text or dial, except to call 911 in an emergency

• Use a hand-held electronic entertainment device, such as a tablet or portable gaming console

• View display screens unrelated to driving, such as watching a video

• Program a GPS device, except by voice commands

What You Can Use:

You are allowed to use hands-free wireless communications devices with an earpiece, lapel button or Bluetooth. You can view GPS display screens as long as they are built into your vehicle's dashboard or securely mounted.

Other Distractions:

Other actions such as eating, drinking, grooming, smoking, reading and reaching for objects are not part of Ontario's distracted driving law. However, you can still be charged with careless or dangerous driving.

Careless Driving Charges:

You could face charges for careless driving if you endanger other people because of any kind of distraction. This includes distraction caused by both hand-held (e.g., phone) or hands-free (e.g., Bluetooth) devices. You could even be charged with dangerous driving – a criminal offence that carries heavier penalties, including long jail terms.

Prevention Tips:

Use any of these tips to avoid distracted driving and its penalties:

• Turn off your phone or switch it to silent mode before you get in the car

• Put it in the glove compartment (lock it, if you have to) or in a bag on the back seat

• Before you leave the house, record an outgoing message that tells callers you're driving and you'll get back to them when you're off the road

• Some apps can block incoming calls and texts, or send automatic replies to people trying to call or text you

• Ask a passenger to take a call or respond to a text for you

• If you must respond, or have to make a call or send a text, carefully pull over to a safe area

• Silence notifications that tempt you to check your phone

The Dangers:

About 100 people are killed and 16,000 are injured by distracted drivers every year in Ontario. About one in four of those deaths are vulnerable road users such as pedestrians and cyclists.

Young Driver Risk:

Research shows that young people 16-25 are more likely to drive distracted than any age group and are the most likely to be killed or injured in a distracted driving collision.

Impact of Texting:

Texting or browsing on your phone takes your eyes off the road and increases your risk of crashing by 10 times. In fact, a recent study found that drivers who were texting or changing music on their phones traveled 28 metres further (nearly half a hockey rink) before responding to a hazard than drivers who were paying attention.

For every 10-year increase in the driver's age, drivers were 44% less likely to text, 38% less likely to use a handheld phone, and 28% less likely to use a hands-free phone.

The Importance of Full Attention:

Legal Restrictions:

Ontario's distracted driving laws apply to the use of hand-held communication/entertainment devices and certain display screens.

While you are driving, including when you are stopped in traffic or at a red light, it is illegal to:

• Use a phone or other hand-held wireless communication device to text or dial, except to call 911 in an emergency

• Use a hand-held electronic entertainment device, such as a tablet or portable gaming console

• View display screens unrelated to driving, such as watching a video

• Program a GPS device, except by voice commands

What You Can Use:

Other Distractions:

Careless Driving Charges:

Prevention Tips:

Use any of these tips to avoid distracted driving and its penalties:

• Turn off your phone or switch it to silent mode before you get in the car

• Put it in the glove compartment (lock it, if you have to) or in a bag on the back seat

• Before you leave the house, record an outgoing message that tells callers you're driving and you'll get back to them when you're off the road

• Some apps can block incoming calls and texts, or send automatic replies to people trying to call or text you

• Ask a passenger to take a call or respond to a text for you

• If you must respond, or have to make a call or send a text, carefully pull over to a safe area

• Silence notifications that tempt you to check your phone

The Dangers:

About 100 people are killed and 16,000 are injured by distracted drivers every year in Ontario. About one in four of those deaths are vulnerable road users such as pedestrians and cyclists.

Young Driver Risk:

Research shows that young people 16-25 are more likely to drive distracted than any age group and are the most likely to be killed or injured in a distracted driving collision.

Impact of Texting:

For every 10-year increase in the driver's age, drivers were 44% less likely to text, 38% less likely to use a handheld phone, and 28% less likely to use a hands-free phone.