
The start of 2019 has brought about substantial changes with regard to laws, regulations and fines with regard to distracted and impaired driving.
In order to combat and deter individuals, even more, to refrain from texting and driving as well as driving under the influence, these new laws involve license suspensions and higher fines to pay.
Mike Hinsperger, staff sergeant of Waterloo Regional Police Services (WRPS) traffic services, explained that the new distracted driving legislation came into effect Jan. 1, 2019.
โItโs now a max fine for a single, first-time offence for a cell phone violation of $1000 and then in addition to that, a second fine is $2000 and a third subsequent fine is $3000,โ Hinsperger said.
Along with these fines come a court-convicted licence suspension.
โCourt would issue a three-day suspension for conviction for a first-time cellphone use infraction, a second-time within two years of conviction would be a seven-day suspension and a third time within two years would be a 30 day suspension and anything after three convictions would be an additional 30 days,โ Hinsperger said.
The license suspension as a result of a distracted driving fine would be issued in court, and not administered by the officer when stopped roadside.
โA lot of people who are tempted to use their cellphones and other electronic devices … will put it in a bag in the back seat … and just forget about it until you stop,โ Hinsperger said.
โWe donโt need suspicion of consumption of alcohol. Prior to Dec. 18, we would need some sort of suspicion that someone had consumed alcohol โฆ [such as] the personโs breath โฆ anything like that where the person provides some sort of suspicion to the officer that they had been drinking. Itโs a pretty substantial change,โ Hinsperger said.
There are times when drivers can use electronic devices. For example, if a driver is lawfully pulled over on the side of the road and is fully stopped, a driver can legally use their phone in their car.
โThereโs three conditions that can go with that โฆ youโre pulled over and lawfully parked, youโre off the roadway, and youโre not interfering with traffic flow,โ Hinsperger said.
As well, some other exemptions would be using a GPS that is mounted in the vehicle. If the electronic device is mounted and therefore canโt move while the car is in motion, a driver can lawfully turn it on and off and activate the device.
โThe key with all of these is that they have to be physically mounted in the car so that they canโt move while the car is inย motion,โ Hinsperger said.
In addition, as of Dec. 18, 2018, new laws have come into place surrounding impaired driving charges.
โProbably one of the biggest changes with the impaired driving piece is the new mandatory for alcohol screening section,โ Hinsperger said.
With this new legislation, officers can arbitrarily stop any vehicle on the road and make a lawful demand for a breath sample to test for alcohol.
โWe donโt need suspicion of consumption of alcohol. Prior to Dec. 18, we would need some sort of suspicion that someone had consumed alcohol โฆ [such as] the personโs breath โฆ anything like that where the person provides some sort of suspicion to the officer that they had been drinking. Itโs a pretty substantial change,โ Hinsperger said.
Another significant change goes along with any individualโs refusal to provide a breath sample.
โOne of the biggest changes that came into effect was the refusal to provide a breathe sample which now holds the same sentence on conviction as the highest blood alcohol amount if a person is convicted in an elevated amount of alcohol in their system at the time of the offence,โ Hinsperger said.
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