No dialling, no texting … hands-free legislation now law
Ontario’s Hands-Free “proposed” legislation is now law. Are you ready? When we drive, we can no longer dial, chat, or text a now prohibited hand-held device. Also included in this hands-free law are any hand-held electronic entertainment devices such as iPods, or other portable MP3 players, as well as portable games. Viewing display screens on devices not required for driving, such as a laptops or DVD players, is also now illegal. If we ignore this law we could face up to a $500 fine. We are told that we will have a three-month grace period, where more warnings than tickets will be handed out, but the ultimate decision is up to the discretion of the police officer.
This new law has to be one of the best publicized ones in recent memory. Even my teenage daughter and her friends are aware of it. The other day I was driving a van full of kids after school, and we happened to pull up beside a police car at a red light. The officer was on his phone. Well, you should have heard the gasps of shock from the kids in the car! “There’s a policeman on his phone,” they stated in indignation. I told them that police and fire crews are allowed to use hand-held phones while in the line of duty. But I was impressed with how seriously they all take this law, especially since many of them are just learning to drive.
I bought my Bluetooth earpiece about a month ago so that I would have time to get used to it before the new law. I do have voice recognition but I still need to work out a few bugs. For some reason, whenever I try and call someone with a voice command, I end up calling my sister. She finds it quite funny. I think I’ve figured it out now, but I need to do more testing. I just don’t want to be so preoccupied with trying to figure out my Bluetooth earpiece, that it ends up being more of a distraction than if I were actually holding the phone. Now wouldn’t that be ironic!
My Bluetooth earpiece does have its limitations. For example if I make a call with voice recognition, but need to press an extension number or any other number on my phone to continue with the call, then I am breaking the law. Remember safely pulling over and stopping somewhere, although not always practical, is an option. Then we can use our phones, or any other devices we have, without a worry.
One Response to “ No dialling, no texting … hands-free legislation now law ”
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October 26th, 2009 at 2:17 pm
like they say..this is the most publicized ban ever..everyone knows about it…l don’t agree with the grace period…if your caught, there’s no reason, that, you don’t know about the ban…do more accidents need to occur to make them realize that a grace period was the wrong idea?…ticket now!!!…everybody is aware of the ban…no reason for the grace period..lets save lives now…not 3 months down the road.