Stronger Ontario Driving Distraction Law Now in Effect

Jan 13, 2019

If you or your employees drive as part of your job, take note: Ontario collision statistics show that one person is injured in a distracted-driving collision every half hour, and a driver using a phone is four times more likely to crash than a driver focusing on the road.

In most Canadian jurisdictions, it’s against the law to use hand-held communication (e.g., your phone) and electronic entertainment devices (e.g. DVD player, e-reader) while driving.

To discourage distracted driving, Ontario has updated its distracted driving law to include higher fines for violations. These changes took effect January 1, 2019.

Under Ontario’s updated distracted driving law, drivers convicted of distracted driving will be punished with a licence suspension, a hefty fine and demerit points. The severity of the punishment increases with the number of subsequent offences committed:

    • first offence — 3 days suspension and $1,000 fine
    • second offence — 7 days suspension and $2,000 fine
    • three or more offences — 30 days suspension, $3,000 fine and six demerit points

Possible next steps

    • Review your jurisdiction’s distracted driving laws with all employees.
    • If you don’t have a distracted driving policy in place, start drafting it. Ontario’s Infrastructure Health & Safety Assocation (IHSA) has draft polcies on its website (see below).
    • Deliver periodic safety talks on distracted driving to employees and co-workers.

For more information on Ontario’s new requirements, visit www.ontario.ca/page/distracted-driving. IHSA resources include sample distracted driving policies, e-courses, safety talks, tip sheets and more.

Photo source: IHSA