Almost 4,400 drivers ticketed for cellphones, MP3 players

May 10, 2010

Toronto police say a policy of "absolutely no tolerance" has resulted in more than 4,000 tickets for drivers using cellphones and other handheld devices in just three months.

On Feb. 1, police began issuing $155 tickets to drivers caught talking on phones, text messaging or using devices such as laptop computers, video players and MP3 players.

By April 30, they had fined 4,397 motorists in the city, with 296 of those charges relating to use of devices other than phones.

Police had merely issued warnings between October, when the new law came into effect, and February, when strict enforcement began.

Patrol officers now nab offending drivers by monitoring traffic from a stationary position – in a cruiser or standing at the side of the road – and watching cars approach, or by pulling over vehicles when they spot a motorist on the phone in traffic.

The three charges relating to the use of devices while driving are: holding a handheld communication device, having a display screen visible to the driver, and using a handheld entertainment device.

And there's no talking your way out of a ticket if you're pulled over while using an electronic gadget, says Sgt. Tim Burrows of traffic services.

"There is absolutely no tolerance — zero," said Burrows.

What's more, if a driver challenges the ticket in court, a judge has the discretion to raise the fine to as much as $500.

More than three months into full enforcement, Burrows says police are now noticing an increase in offences as drivers slide into the old habit of reaching for their cellphones.

"One of the things we've seen is an ebb and flow to it," he said. "When we first started the enforcement, it kind of went away a bit and we didn't see it as much. Now we're starting to see it creep back into society again."

Burrows said police aren't targeting a specific number of drivers so much as they are trying to change everyone's driving habits.

"It's not to see how many we can catch, but how much behaviour can be changed to make our roads safer."