Good to know. I thought they only looked at demerits. Is there any other offense without demerits that they consider?It doesn't matter if there are no demerit points.
Insurance companies will see the conviction and hike his rate.
Good to know. I thought they only looked at demerits. Is there any other offense without demerits that they consider?It doesn't matter if there are no demerit points.
Insurance companies will see the conviction and hike his rate.
Insurance companies don't care about points or your fine for any ticket. The points/fine are your punishment. The insurance companies only care about the offense(s) you have been convicted of.Good to know. I thought they only looked at demerits. Is there any other offense without demerits that they consider?
No need to pull over when taking a call. Just tap the bluetooth on the visor and chat. Likewise for dialing.WTF is all the hoopla over talking on a phone with it held up to your ear? Texting while driving is bad. Dialing while driving is bad. But when someone calls me I have to create a hazard on the side of the highway to either take the call or call them back? A little balance is needed.
You can use your phone to call 911. That's it.I was under the impression you could use the phone if it was an emergency
Sounds like you have all the back up to go that route
Bring it with you at first appearance and I think you would be Ok
Good Luck
Lesson learned??? You're right! My daily use of the phone while I drive through school zones at 3:30pm(is that when schools end) has finally caught up with me.Sorry dude. No sympathy. I can't count the number of times I've been stepping off a streetcar and had to pull back as someone drove right past talking away. It is a serious thing. Do you really want to be responsible for injuring another human being? Even if you are on the way to something important.
Get the damn blutooth. You can't put a bit of money ahead of your fellow travellers on this earth......lesson learned.
Might not do any good. The accident a couple of weeks back, when the cube van crashed into a bus, killing a lady, was reported caused by the cube van driver on his cell phone (witness says he had it up to his ear). The courts are probably being very tough right now on driving and non-hands-free cell phone use.I talked to one of those traffic ticket places. I travel for work and might have a hard time attending court dates. Will see how it goes.
I know, I shouldn't off picked up my phone while driving.
Had a family(dad) emergency and was on my way to a hospital. My cousin called and I wasn't thinking clearly so I picked up. Next I see flashing lights behind me. Tried explaining myself to officer but she looked at me with her cold hearted eyes and didn't care to much.
What's my chance if I fight it?
Any of you had any luck?
This is mostly true, but our system seems devoid of common sense or the ability to make exceptions. Probably becauseWTF is all the hoopla over talking on a phone with it held up to your ear? Texting while driving is bad. Dialing while driving is bad. But when someone calls me I have to create a hazard on the side of the highway to either take the call or call them back? A little balance is needed.
Here's an even cheaper version.Why fight it? Is it really worth the effort?
The fine for "distracted driving" is $155 with no demerit points in Ontario, according to CAA. Compare that to $280 and 4 demerit points in Saskatchewan.
Rather than arguing your "compelling reason for breaking the law" you should simply recognize your compelling reason for buying a hands-free bluetooth unit for your car.
Like this one, for $60, that clips on your visor:
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Couldn't agree more. Considering distracted driving now claims more lives than drunk drivers, it's time to make it a 1,000 fine and 6 points. There's no reason to text or hold the phone to your ear while driving unless you're calling 911.I can't believe the number of people I see who are driving with 1 hand on the wheel and the other with their phone up to their head, driving slow, weaving in their lane. Constantly looking down to text on their phone, slow to move off with the traffic, sometimes only after giving them the horn.
Are you all CHEAP BASTARDS who can't pony up for a hands free Bluetooth device? I'd make the fine higher, like $1k if you do not show up at the police station with a receipt showing that you now own a hands free device.
If these ass whipes can't affor $100 for a BT device, then we are going to have a intice them to save $900 by buying one. Pay $100 now or $1k?
Or what they could do is just take your phone away on the spot returning it only if you show up with a hands free device at the police station. Either way I have had it with people who think they are more important than everyone else.
The OP is SOL. He wasn't making a 911 call and has already explained to the cop the phone rang so he answered it. All he had to do was pull over where it was safe to do so, put on his hazard lights and take the call. The OP isn't getting out of this one. Pay the fine.Fight it.
If you can prove the call was really an emergency, then chances are good you can beat the charge.
There was must hospital records of your dad's admission, the 911 call, the date/time you received the call from relative , etc.
Ask for disclosure.
Sort of correct. Insurance companies look at any moving violation but typically don't raise your rates until you have 3 or more in the last 3 years.It doesn't matter if there are no demerit points.
Insurance companies will see the conviction and hike his rate.
Demerit points are an MTO thing only and stay on your record for 2 years from the date of the offence. Ins. companies take into consideration any moving violation including speeding up to 15 kph over for which there's no demerit points.Good to know. I thought they only looked at demerits. Is there any other offense without demerits that they consider?
Sorry, no sympathy for cops nailing drivers for texting and talking on the phone while holding it to their ear.Every cop is looking to increase their conviction rate. That's why the fish honey holes rather than provide real assistance to citizens. Take the ticket to Points and pay whatever it takes to keep it off your record or else your insurance will go up.
Every time a cop is a dick, that's the face of the law the public remembers
I hope you are right but I think an insurance company could drop you if you have 3 tickets in less than three years, no matter if they are minor offenses...Sort of correct. Insurance companies look at any moving violation but typically don't raise your rates until you have 3 or more in the last 3 years.
I'm not aware of an upper level ruling, but the Ontario Court of Justice, hearing an appeal-level case, ruled it was legal to momentarily hold a device... but went into quite some detail to describe what that meant. The media coverage of the ruling was spotty at best, with some outlets even going so far as to claim it was an upper level court in addition to the usual sensationalize-and-summarize the media are so famous for.I went to court to fight the same charge, and won. Handling such a device doesn't necessarily mean that you are using it. This has been ruled on by the Supreme Court of Ontario I believe.
Do a little research and you may have some luck. At the very least, arrange for an early resolution meeting with the prosecutor. They will offer you a smaller fine, or a court date. They will not drop the charge at that meeting, regardless of any story or evidence you may have.
The key part here is the phrases "to hand it to a passenger or move it within the car." The Justice outlined what form of "holding" is permitted, specifically. While all cases can't be covered, it's clear that "holding" a device, even if you aren't looking at it, for an extended period of time, is beyond the scope of what he meant. Additionally, if you look at it while holding it, to read the number of who is calling you, for example, is also clearly outside of what the Justice intended.Given the objective is to promote road safety by banning resort to and the use of such devices while operating a motor vehicle, it is not necessary to prohibit a driver from merely touching a cell phone, for example, just to hand it to a passenger or to move it within the car. The short mental distraction and physical interference with the ability to drive caused by such acts are not intended to be caught by the provision. There must be some sustained physical holding of the device in order to meet the definition found within ss. 78.1(1).
You're half right.I was under the impression you could use the phone if it was an emergency
Sounds like you have all the back up to go that route
Bring it with you at first appearance and I think you would be Ok
Good Luck
I don't know of any agencies where "conviction rates" apply to traffic enforcement. Maybe they exist, maybe Toronto Police is the only agency that does, but I'd be very surprised. The police version of performance evaluations for traffic and patrol is usually based on citations issued, not on citations upheld in court, in addition to the various other criteria (dress, deportment, paperwork, etc). Police have little control over the conviction rate on such petty matters. I've showed up to court before to find the Crown had decided to dismiss all of my cases because there he prepping for something larger. How can they hold that against me? That would hardly be fair. On the other hand, if 500 tickets were written by each officer on average in a given month and I only wrote 100, my Sgt would want to know how I was spending my time on the tax payers dime that I only witnessed 1/5 the violations my coworkers did. Perhaps I could come up with a reason (was on leave for most it, then seconded to a task force, plus I had recurrent training, my range qualification and a first aid refresher all in the same month so I was only on the road 1/5 of the time), perhaps I couldn't and I'd be expected to pull up my socks.Every cop is looking to increase their conviction rate. That's why the fish honey holes rather than provide real assistance to citizens. Take the ticket to Points and pay whatever it takes to keep it off your record or else your insurance will go up.
Every time a cop is a dick, that's the face of the law the public remembers