Dear driver: put down the cellphone and just drive

Distracted drivers. Cyclists have seen their share of them.

And according to this new survey by Angus Reid, most Canadian drivers have seen their share of distracted drivers, too. The survey of 1,001 adults found that 90 per cent had recently witnessed a driver talking on a handheld cellphone while driving. The survey also found that 89 per cent of those surveyed would favour a national ban on using handheld cellphones while driving.

Comments

[Justin]

Dear fellow cyclists: ditto.

Twice in the past several weeks, I've come up behind someone on the IHT with earbuds in, fiddling with their phone/toy. in both cases, after the usual 'on your left' and no response, the one i ended up yelling at because there was a woman pushing a baby coming the opposite way and he was weaving every which way. The other - somehow surprised as i went to pass her - promptly rode into the bushes at trailside.

[RandB]

A national ban on handheld cellphone use while driving is not the only solution. One alternative would be to have a maximum speed at which one could drive while using a handheld cellphone. Say 30 kph with the requirement that ones flashers are flashing. Ban all use of handheld cellphones by drivers at higher speeds and make the fines for exceeding this speed quite stiff, and have it enforced. It is after all legal to travel on the roads slower than the posted speed limit and I for one am in favor of most laws or traffic calming devices or methods that encourage that right to be respected on the roads.