Stiffer laws for distracted driving urged

Garneau asks provinces to tighten rules

OTTAWA • The federal government wants some provinces to toughen laws aimed at distracted drivers, the National Post has learned, but is not yet ready to criminalize those caught texting or talking on smartphones.

In a letter to his provincial counterparts, federal Transport Minister Marc Garneau seeks “nationally consistent enforcement measures and penalties” to combat a rapidly rising rate of accidents involving drivers who were using their phones at the time of the crash.

“I would like to encourage, and facilitate as required, all jurisdictions to consider adopting measures which are both stricter in terms of their impact but also uniform across the country,” Garneau wrote in a letter sent to his provincial and territorial counterparts earlier this week. A copy of that letter was provided to the National Post by a federal government source. “Having robust and nationally consistent enforcement measures and penalties will help mitigate the negative impact of this increasingly pervasive problem on Canada’s roads.”

In all provinces, a driver caught texting or talking on a smartphone will face a fine and demerit points but the penalties vary substantially among jurisdictions.

For example, British Columbia has the highest fine for a first-time offender at $543 plus an assessment of four demerit points on the licence-holder. In New Brunswick, by contrast, the fine is $172.50 with an assessment of three demerit points. In Newfoundland and Labrador, it’s a $100 fine and four demerits.

No provincial transport minister contacted by the National Post Friday would say much about the letter other that they are considering the issues Garneau raised and plan to respond in the near future.

The federal government cannot, on its own, bring in “nationally consistent enforcement measures” unless it decides to make texting and talking while driving a criminal code offence and, so far at least, the Trudeau government appears reluctant to do that.

Garneau acknowledges that debate in his letter to the provincial transportation minister.

“As you know, using a hand-held cellphone while driving, or texting while driving, can already be prosecuted under existing provisions of the Criminal Code when this behaviour becomes dangerous driving,” Garneau wrote.

Garneau said much same thing in an interview published by Postmedia last fall as part of a five-part series that examined the deadly toll of distracted driving.

A conviction of dangerous driving on its own could bring a jail sentence of up to five years. Dangerous driving that causes bodily harm carries a maximum 10-year sentence. Dangerous driving that causes a death can result in a sentence of up to 14 years in prison.

Postmedia’s series on distracted driving was published just after a fall meeting of federal, provincial and territorial transportation ministers where distracted driving was a hot topic. And while Quebec, at the time, was pushing the federal government to make distracted driving a Criminal Code violation, there was no broad consensus among provinces for that course of action.

The Postmedia series, published under the title Fatal Distraction, included investigations into the details of fatal car crashes involving distracted drivers.

In one crash, for example, Postmedia obtained records that showed that, in the 50 minutes before a fatal 2010 collision, the female driver received 23 text messages from four people, dialed five phone numbers and picked up two incoming calls. In the 11 minutes before she reached the intersection where her car would careen into another, killing a woman in that car, the driver received one incoming call, dialed three numbers herself and sent and received 12 texts, almost all about directions to pick up a friend from a bar.

Garneau, in his letter last week, said he believes reducing distracted driving requires urgent attention from legislatures across the country.

“The risks associated with distracted driving are similar to those as driving under the influence,” he wrote to his provincial counterparts. “We were slow as a country to acknowledge and act on this problem, and it would be regrettable for us to make the same mistake again with driving while distracted.”

The 2014 national collision database showed that, at that time, one in five fatal car crashes involved some form of distracted driving and that close to one in three collisions that resulted in major injuries involved a driver that was distracted.

Highway safety experts believe that distracted drivers are now even more likely factor into crashes involving fatalities or major injuries.

Garneau, in his letter, also notes that stiffer sanctions alone will not solve the problem and encourages the provinces to look at other ways, including education campaigns, to get drivers to put down or, best of all, turn off their phones while driving.

“I believe it is important to continue this joint work,” Garneau said. “I also appreciate that individual jurisdictions continue to develop and implement initiatives to decrease the level of distracted driving.”

Finally, Garneau reminds provinces and territories that prompt and complete reporting of vehicle collision data to his department will continue to be vital to support research and legislation to combat distracted driving.

“Having timely and complete data is essential for measuring the results of the initiatives we put in place,” Garneau wrote.