According to a new report from CBC News, Windsor Police have started using an unmarked van to catch distracted drivers.
The effort, called Project Dial Tone, is aimed at catching drivers with a smartphone in their hands while on the road. A video posted to Twitter shows the van with tinted windows with an officer sitting in the back seat monitoring other drivers. The officer takes a picture of any distracted driver before pulling them over.
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Episode #1: Traffic Enforcement Unit : PROJECT DIAL TONE ! pic.twitter.com/0tQTSnFOae— Windsor Police (@WindsorPolice) March 9, 2018
Police officers say that they get a range of excuses from “I was just using the GPS” to “I was quickly texting my parents.”
The police are reminding drivers that distracted driving can result in three demerit points and a $490 fine.
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It’s dangerous and not worth it. Everyone with iOS should enable do not disturb while driving. You won’t miss much, especially what’s going on in front of you.
Want to be sure what if I’m pressing on my iPhone cuz Google maps found a better route? However my iPhone is always in its car mount. So that’s like the only time I would do that or unless someone is calling me and i press answer
Use Apple Maps. When Siri finds a faster route she tells you and automatically switches you over in five seconds unless you say not to.
Apple is the way to go here since I do not think that taking calls on the Watch is against the law yet. The Watch also taps you when it’s time to turn which is nice so you don’t have to look at the gps as often.
Google automatically selects the better route if you explicitly do not say “No”. You do not have to touch the phone to accept the better route – that IS the default if you do nothing.
If you think it’s all a cash grab than don’t use your phone. Personally I don’t care if it’s 14 deaths or 78–One death is too many for something as stupid as using your phone while driving. Not to mention that it’s usually not the person who uses the phone that dies.
Many many ways in which people are distracted when driving. I’m not advocating for any of them just trying to have some perspective. This ticketing of people at Red lights is non sense. You want to ticket people using their phones while driving then make sure they are actually driving. Tough to cause an accident when you are stationary.
I disagree. Here’s a scenario: Someone is on their phone and elsewhere a horn is honked. The person on their phone thinks it’s because they didn’t notice the light changed. Quickly he/she begins to accelerate without noticing the light is still red and ends up in the intersection.
There is absolutely no reason to be looking at your phone while driving or stopped at an intersection. If you truly need to use it pull over off the main roads on to a side street and check there.
Yes there are a lot of things that can be distracting, I know I have two young kids, so why not eliminate one big one? I have and I can tell you I don’t miss it and I actually feel safer and more focused.
You could easily substitute looking in your mirror, or looking literally anywhere else in that hypothetical scenario. Perhaps looking at the driver next to you (as so many anti-cell phone use people seem to claim to be doing while driving). Many people have jobs that require travel during the day but also constant availability or you miss work. Not to mention those using it to quickly change the song or check GPS. As I said there are many many ways in which people can be distracted while driving, you mentioned kids in the car, but we don’t ban that. It seems like we’re villifying the phone to an unfair degree. Of course some people will always use it irresponsibly, that’s human nature. In the same way that some drive with dogs in their lap, do their makeup in the mirror, argue with their passenger, have screaming kids in the car, are drowsy, are singing along to the radio, are looking out the window for a particular store/address, watching other drivers or pedestrians,etc why are we villifying this one form of distraction to such an extreme?
Because this is easily eliminated and not needed. The problem with the phone is you are engaged with it. It’s not a glance to see what radio station or a glance to see the next turn. It’s people checking their Facebook status, what’s the new tweet, who’s texting me… this is the problem. I use to be cynical too. Many, many years ago I knew I could text and drive and did just that. I didn’t think too much of it. But the rise in deaths because of this problem coupled with me having kids made me realize that it’s not only about me. When driving I’m responsible for myself, my family and everyone else on the road. It’s time that drivers stop being selfish and put the phone down. It’s no different than driving drunk, studies have proven this.
And there’s are charges just for those ppl…have a dog on your lap…it’s Drive while crowded s162 HTA…doing makeup, shaving etc…careless driving s130 HTA.
Great, like to see more of those handed out instead of tickets to ppl quickly checking their phones at a red light while stationary.
Do you think it should be okay to take a sip of beer when you are at a red light and stationary?
The absurdity of that example undermines your entire argument and only serves to highlight the absurdity of your entire position on the matter.
How so? It’s only a sip right? A sip won’t impair your driving, right? In the seventies it was acceptable. So are you saying we need another fifty years and countless deaths to accept the real danger of using a phone while driving?
S32.1 of the LLA takes cares of that.
And distracted driving law takes care of people using their phones while driving or stationary.
Yep s78.1(1)…all ya gotta do is have it in your hand. In other words don’t pick up the phone. The wording is pretty clear. 🙂
I understand that. I think there is a bit of confusion here. The message you got from me in your email about sipping a beer was a mistake. I deleted afterwards. It was intended for the xxx person.
All good..I figured that’s what you meant..just showing there all sorts of charges in the POA, that covers a lot of stuff. Many of which never gets laid.
Cheers
Do you think it should be okay to take a sip of beer when you are at a red light and stationary?
Kudos for @xxxJDxxx:disqus for bringing some sensibility to this absolute shitshow of demonization that is driving on Canadian roads. Good behaviour CANNOT be legislated. The way cops are locked-and-loaded with useless laws, they can quite literally give you a ticket for something (if they wanted to). When we’re no longer using smartphones (what, head mounted displays maybe?), the cops will still have this stupid law on the books – think of this the next time you get a ticket for swearing in an Ontario park.
Maybe they should be trying to track down the source of the ‘Windsor Hum’ instead of arresting granny for glancing at her phone when sitting at the red light.
Thought they traced it to an old steel mill in the US…
so sad…
This strategy has been shown time and time again to be illegal. I don’t understand why police innother towns think its a good idea. All the tickets will be nullified!
Why do you say that?
very good news. and, this is why i use a vent clip for my phone. i turn my gps waze app on before i drive.