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December 17, 2018 – That’s right the wrist slap penalty for distracted driving doesn’t appear to be working here in Ontario.  Now the Province is going to take distracted driving penalties to a whole new level.  On the first occasion you will receive a $1,000 fine, lose 3 demerit points and undergo a 3-day license suspension.  If that doesn’t get your attention the fine doubles to $2,000, as do the demerit points to 6, plus a 7-day license suspension for the second conviction.  Drive distracted for the 3rd time and you are looking at a $3,000 fine and a 30-day license suspension.

On top of that you can be pretty sure that your insurance company will have some second thoughts about covering you at all or charge a hefty increase.  Either way, the costs and problems add up quickly.

In fact, similar penalties are increasing in almost every province.  The simple reason is that distracted driving has become the number 1 cause of crashes across the country.  We are fundamentally addicted to our smart phones which means we have trouble leaving them alone for extended periods of time particularly when we drive.

So be warned, checking those emails or text messages while you are on the road could get very, very costly beginning in 2019.  Still not sure?  Check out Lorraine Sommerfeld’s article here:

Ontario planning smackdown on distracted driving