As of the 15th of July Manitobans who talk on their cellphones or text while driving will be fined $199.80. The amendments to the Highway Traffic Act also prohibit smoking in a vehicle when a child under the age of 16 is present.
Manitoba minister of transportation reckons that the new measures aim at preventing car accidents and promoting healthier living for children.
Even though there are no plans at the moment to have targeted enforcement of the ban, Winnipeg police officers have been asked to pay special attention to people using phones while on the road during the next few days. Police said they are looking for people on their cellphones who are driving poorly. Drivers caught talking on hand-held cell phones will not lose merits on their license and will only be given tickets.
Even if you’re not texting or talking on the phone while driving, you can still be ticketed just for holding the phone in their hands while behind the wheel. It needs to be put in a holder that’s affixed to the car. It can’t be lying on your lap and you can’t hold it, police officers say.
Manitoba joins the ranks of several other provinces that currently have similar bans in place, including Ontario and British Columbia. The new Manitoba law permits people to use cellphones while driving if the equipment is a hands-free device that is used in a hands-free manner, said provincial officials.
Many Manitobans have already switched to hands-free devices, but a number of drivers are still talking and texting using hand-held devices. People using hand-held phones must pull over and have their vehicle in park to talk. People can only use a hand-held cellphone while driving in emergencies to contact fire, ambulance or police services under the new law.
Drinking and driving offences in Ontario have been a recurring problem and one of the main focuses of the Safer Roads for a Safer Ontario Act. According to government statistics, a quarter of all motor vehicle fatalities in Ontario are the result of drinking and driving; on top of this, 75 per cent of convicted drunk drivers continue to drive despite driving bans. The Ontario government intends to limit recurring drink driving by giving reduced licence suspensions for those drunk drivers who participate in the Ignition Interlock Conduct Review programme.
The Ignition Interlock Conduct Review Programme is muted to start on 3rd August this year. Eligible convicted drivers will be selected for participation in the programme and will be given their licences back much sooner than before. The programme works by giving the suspended drink driver a device that fits on to their car’s ignition system. The device stops the car from starting if it detects alcohol on the driver’s breath (the device is programmed to stop when alcohol readings exceed 20 milligrams in 100 millilitres of blood from a breath sample.) The law in Ontario currently dictates that first time impaired drivers face a one-year licence suspension, yet with the new programme, drunk drivers will receive a reduced suspension of around three months followed by nine months of driving with an ignition interlock device.
Lawyers in the province argue that the new programme unfairly punishes drunk drivers because they must enter a guilty plea once the interlock ignition device detects an illegal alcohol reading.
The programme has been designed to modify the behaviour of impaired drivers. Using the interlock ignition device is aimed at training drivers not to drink alcohol again when getting into their cars and when used over a nine month period, the impaired driver’s behaviour is expected to change.
There are huge benefits to impaired drivers eligible for the programme particularly those in rural areas with weak transport links; in the past these drivers may have lost their livelihood because getting in to work was difficult without a car. Nevertheless, some Ontario lawyers are in arms about the programme because eligibility depends on a guilty plea. Ontario lawyers feel that some drivers may be ignoring the fact that they have a valid defence and simply pleading guilty to get onto the programme, when their lawyers could fight the charges.
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