Distracted Driving Laws

Oh December. This month brings many things - advent calendars, awkward holiday parties, hopefully some snow to go with the cold - but to Ontario, December also marks the start of a ban on using cell phones while driving.

“To illustrate his point, [Bradley] hopped into a driving simulator while making a cellphone call with one hand on the wheel, ended up going the wrong way and crashed into a wall.”

- Toronto Star

I totally see a point here. Unfortunately, I don’t think the point that Transportation Minister Jim Bradley was trying to make was that he is, in fact, a complete idiot.


Initially, this ban might seem to be a stellar idea. There's been a few times I've nearly ended up in a flaming wreck at the side of the 401 when someone decides that checking their text messages is more important than checking their blind spot. Unfortunately, this ban doesn't cover 'hands-free' devices, because that'd be too hard to enforce. Police can't tell the difference between someone singing along to the radio, talking to a passenger, 'reciting a speech', or talking on a hands-free device. So any idiot with a headset can just laugh at this law and continue on their merry way. Luckily, there's a cheap solution for the rest of us.

hands-free = legal

The most frustrating part of this ban is the inclusion of music devices like iPods and MP3 players. Why not ban CD players, tape decks, and radios too? I could argue that I am just as likely, if not more, to get into an accident while flipping stations and changing CDs trying to find something decent to listen too - but I'm not a complete retard and don't do that to the point where I'd be distracted while driving (while I'm in the passenger seat it's another story). But driving I can usually just plug in my MP3 player with a decent playlist and not bother with it for the entire drive. Luckily, the "hands free" aspect gets to come into play again! And people are asking the tough questions:

'Asked if a motorist could skirt the law by taping his iPod to the dashboard, Bradley wasn't sure."I would have to look at that one," Bradley told reporters.' -Toronto Star

Don't get me wrong, I'm all for road safety. I'm just against the government acting like an incompetent babysitter by trying to impose stupid regulations with gigantic loopholes. I would really, really like to think that people have the capacity to make their own judgement calls when it comes to something as mundane as music while driving.

Or in other words, 16 days to figure out the best way to attach my MP3 player to my dashboard.