Is the increase due to addicted people willingly risking their life an the lives of the people surrounding them or is it simply a bunch of people with bad habits living where the issue is not talked about enough? I look at education and laws around the world for the issue and my jaw often hit the floor. Either it's not talked about or doing won't get you in any trouble.
Where I live (Eastern Canada) they made it so that first offence is $600. Second offence double that. If the person is on a probationary licence then they lose it. Otherwise you lose 5 of your points in the demerits points system[1]. Repeat offenders lose their licence for up to a month.
They are investigating outright making it a criminal offence because the population consider the issue a serious one.
Not only are you not allowed to hold a phone you are also not allowed to have it in a cup holder. You can only use it if attached to the vehicle and for navigation or vehicle performance analytics features. They have cops driving in raised unmarked trucks and bus to spot drivers using phones.
We also saw at the same time an increase on government paid TV and radio ads educating about the issue.
Those measures made it so that according to surveys, "97% of adult Quebecers consider that distracted driving is a very serious or quite serious problem".
[1] Adults with full licenses have 15, young adult 12 and teens only 8. That means tha a teen who loses 5 points for having an active phone in the car will then lose their license for failing to obey a stop sign (-3 pts).
Where I live (Eastern Canada) they made it so that first offence is $600. Second offence double that. If the person is on a probationary licence then they lose it. Otherwise you lose 5 of your points in the demerits points system[1]. Repeat offenders lose their licence for up to a month.
They are investigating outright making it a criminal offence because the population consider the issue a serious one.
Not only are you not allowed to hold a phone you are also not allowed to have it in a cup holder. You can only use it if attached to the vehicle and for navigation or vehicle performance analytics features. They have cops driving in raised unmarked trucks and bus to spot drivers using phones.
We also saw at the same time an increase on government paid TV and radio ads educating about the issue.
Those measures made it so that according to surveys, "97% of adult Quebecers consider that distracted driving is a very serious or quite serious problem".
[1] Adults with full licenses have 15, young adult 12 and teens only 8. That means tha a teen who loses 5 points for having an active phone in the car will then lose their license for failing to obey a stop sign (-3 pts).