Is it inevitable? The use of cell phones continues to spread around the
globe at high speed -- and almost as fast, governments are passing laws to
forbid drivers from handling them. Australia, Brazil, Greece, Hong Kong
(but not China), Italy, Japan, Poland and Portugal are all places where
mobile phones are loved, and all ban their use at the wheel. Great Britain
just joined the club. The tolerance of hands-free versions varies around
the planet, but for if you use your hands to multi-task, you face a load
of grief. Ireland’s penalty is over $400 and/or up to 3 months
imprisonment on a third offence. Ouch.
How long until Ontario
cracks down like Newfoundland, which banned drive-and-yak on April 1 of
last year? Police in New York State have served over 200,000 tickets since
a cell phone law came into effect in December 2001. Lieutenant Barry
Gawlick of the Buffalo police department’s traffic bureau confirms that
New Yorkers may have initially obeyed the law but they’re now back to
their former ways. The law hasn’t had much effect he says, despite the
fact that “We still issue summonses every day for people using cell
phones.”
The state is in the
middle of a four-year study of the ban’s impact on driver behaviour and
collision rates, says Joe Picchi of the New York Department of Motor
Vehicles. Convincing motorists to stay off the phone is a long term
project, it seems. “This is going to take a while," he says, citing the
years it took for Empire State drivers to start obeying a similar seat
belt law.
A few other states
across the land of the free are considering cell bans, and a handful
already outlaw school bus drivers from using them. Neither Canada nor the
United States seem likely to pass national laws, although the American
capital -- the tiny District of Columbia -- will prohibit all those
lobbyists, politicians and diplomats from making deals while at the wheel.
In recent years,
opinion polls have shown that Canadians are leaning towards passing new
laws, as more drivers notice the erratic maneuvers of people with one hand
stuck to the side of their heads. But is the cell phone just a victim of
its visibility? Somebody concentrating on the radio or heater can be as
much a menace to society, and already car manufacturers are looking at the
impact of gathering even more techno-goodies around the driver’s seat.
Police have long
pegged distracted drivers as the cause of a great deal of collisions, but
statistics are sketchy. Unless someone admits to having diverted their
attention prior to a crash, it’s hard to prove it. Collision reporting
forms do not currently account for phones or specific distractions. Emna
Dhahak of the Ontario Ministry of Transportation (MTO) says that “Police
have specifically indicated a desire to see the forms modified to include
information on cell phone use.” She reports that MTO is monitoring not
only what is happening outside Ontario, but is participating in two
national studies on driver distraction. The government is also reviewing a
private member’s bill on the issue.
But focusing on the
cell phone is a mistake, says the Ontario Safety League’s Jamie Ford.
“It's not about cell phones, CD players or radios, he says, it’s about
pretending we can take our attention from the task at hand -- which is
driving a motor vehicle. “It’s very, very complex task,” he says. “An
airline pilot will make less decisions per second than a driver on a city
street.”
It may seem satisfying
to single out cell phones, but failing to address the more complex issue
of driving skill and habits is wrong, says Ford.
Ed Drass, National
Post
Have a question for
the Traffic Guru? Contact him at edrass@nationalpost.com or by fax at
416-322-7016