Saskatchewan is the latest province to prohibit the use of hand held cell phones while driving. Effective January 1, 2010, drivers in Saskatchewan will not be allowed to use hand held cell phones to talk, text, e-mail or surf the internet while operating a vehicle. Similar bans are currently in effect in Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, Ontario and Quebec. BC will ban the use of hand held cell phones while driving as of January 1^st, Manitoba has announced that it will introduce legislation in the first half of 2010 and Alberta is expected to announce legislation shortly.

 

Ontario’s legislation goes a step further by also phasing out CBs and similar UHF/VHF radios over the next three years. There is some accommodation for the commercial sector, however, including permanent exemptions for satellite, navigation, collision avoidance and other fleet management systems for the viewing of logistical information on a display as long as the vehicle is not in motion and the device is not held in hand.  Just as the law applies to standard cell phones, push-to-talk devices can only be used while driving if they are mounted or secured to the vehicle and is easily accessible and activated by one press of a button. It cannot be hanging from the roof of the cab or dashboard.

 

In the United States, seven states (California Connecticut, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Utah and Washington) ban the use of hand held devices while driving and 19 states ban texting while driving.