Are stronger laws the solution to curbing distracted driving?

A Quebec coroner's recommendation to amend the Criminal Code to include a law against distracted driving has renewed debate about the best way to curb cell phone use in vehicles.

MichelFerlandwants the federal governmentto makedriving while texting or talking on the phone a criminal offence in the case of death or injury, much like drunk driving.

Ferland alsowantspolice to have more powerto seize information from the driver's phone to prove their suspicions in court, andhe suggested new car models could include a function to scramblecell phone signals in cars.

• Amend Criminal Code to curb cell phone use while driving, coroner says
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Another Quebec coroner recentlywent even further,suggestingan outright ban on cell phones in vehicles should be under consideration.

The problem is clear enough: drivers engaged in text messaging on a cell phone are 23 times more likely to be involved in a crash, or near-crash event, compared with non-distracted drivers, according to a recent U.S. study.

Cell phone use while driving is currently only considered a violation of the Highway Safety Code.

All provinces in Canada, however,now have bans in place on using cellphones or hand-held electronic devices while driving.

Depending on the legislation, penalties can include hefty fines and, in many cases, demerit points.

Laws or attitudes?

Not everyone agrees stiffer punishment for cell phone users isthe solution.

Lewis Smith, a spokesman for the Canada Safety Council, said amending the Criminal Code would be"overkill."

"We really need to focus on changing attitudes first,"Smith told CBC Montreal's Daybreakon Tuesday.

He said the Criminal Code already addresses dangerous driving in section 249, which prosecutors could use to target cell phone users.

While Smithacknowledged distracted driving is "a critical issue," he saidstronger laws could be problematic.

He gavethe example of a driver who checks his phone at a red light, which he said isn'tacceptable but shouldn't be considered a criminal offence.

Smith added that scrambling a cell phone signal would also create potential dangers of its own, making it difficult to communicate in emergencies.

Shifting tides

In his view, education and greater public awareness of the problem is key.

He likened cell phone useto seatbelts, which at first were widely rejected by car users but are now accepted as necessary bythe vast majority of drivers.

Ferland's recommendations were made in a report intothe death of Jimmy Brunet-Rotondo, a 28-year-old truck driver who rammed into the truck ahead of him on Highway 13 in Laval.

He believesBrunet-Rotondo wasdistracted at the time of the crash.

There were no tire marks on the road and a witness said Brunet-Rotondo didn't brakeuntil moments before impact, which"strongly suggests he didn't have his eyes on the road and was distracted by other things," the report said.

• Despite crackdowns, distracted driving remains a problem across Canada