City of Hamilton Wants to Crack Down on Distracted Drivers

The City of Hamilton wants to crack down on distracted driving.

The City of Hamilton wants to crack down on distracted driving.

At Monday’s (Sept. 16) Public Works committee meeting, councillor Sam Merulla introduced a motion to have the federal government assess amending the Criminal Code of Canada to recognize distracted driving by a handheld device a violation of the Criminal Code of Canada, 1985.

When introducing the motion, Merulla drew on his experience as a cyclist as being a firsthand witness to just how many people are using their phones while driving.

“When I travel to the gym daily [I see] that 30 to 50 per cent of vehicles are driving with handheld devices,” he said.

Merulla added that given recent statistics surrounding distracted driving, the problem has reached ‘crisis proportions.’

“Distracted driving now causes such a hazard on the road and leads to more deaths than drunk driving in some places,” the motion reads.

“[There are] more tragedies [from distracted driving] than drunk driving,” Merulla said.

Councillor Lloyd Ferguson, chair of the committee, commented that he thinks local law enforcement is making “good progress” on this issue.

Ferguson pointed to the fact the Hamilton Police would soon be adding more SUVs to their cruiser fleet in an effort to allow officers to see into vehicles for this very reason. He also said mounting cameras on some cruisers will also help with enforcing.

Under Ontario’s Bill 31 – Making Ontario’s Roads Safer Act, the penalties for distracted driving are:

• Fines of $300 to $1000
• You will lose three demerit points if you are convicted of a distracted driving offence
• Young and novice drivers convicted of any Graduated Licensing System violation are subject to: Minimum 30-day licence suspension for a first offence; 90-day licence suspension for a second conviction
• Third and subsequent instances can lead to the cancellation of their driver’s licence and removal from the Graduated Licensing System