So basically all this is is another cash cow and NOTHING is going to change as far as highway crashes and deaths go... Good job!

Got to pay for the Olympics somehow

"So basically all this is is another cash cow....."

Don't use you hand held device while you are driving and it won't be a cash cow.

Even if the stats are right it will help, drivers will pay more attention to driving and there for make the roads safer. If you really have to get that call then pull over, stop and take the call.

What information or research did the government use before enacting this new tax, if any?

What research was used? Probably the same research as for other similar incident reports, some sort of general categorization as to cause.

For instance, if there has been an accident, the driver died, no passengers or any other witness, a cell phone was found, that was or may have been a contributing cause.

What likely was never put down as a contribuitng cause was

1. the driver sneezed and was looking for a kleenex
2. the driver was adjusting the car radio
3. the driver was reading a map
4. the driver was reaching for something in her purse
5. the driver was getting out his wallet to look at his destination address on a business card.

and on and on.....

This reminds me of the 50mph law in the USA. Accidents increased rather than decreased. When the laws were changed, accidents started to decrease again.

Hypotheses and reality are often different.

Besides, just because there is a ban, does not mean people's habits will change. In fact, it may be that those who were careful in the first place, and caused very few if any accidents as a result of cell phone use, are respecting the ban, while the worst abusers are simply not making a change.

This is one study. If others will show the same thing, we have a law that is just another dud. Whoever said laws were perfect?

They outlawed it in Ontario. Whats so special about BC. Bad enough drivers here as it is. Cell phone should be put aside while driving basic common sense.

I wish they would make up there minds!first they tell us cell phones ARE causing accidents,now they tell us maybe not so.

must agree with you gus,the list is endless.how many go through the drive in like tims and macdonalds and then continue driving with their coffee in one hand etc.
imo it's the drivers who are not getting trained properly thats the biggest thing.

Sorry honey, but I was driving. Yes I did check it out, but they were all sold out!

Works for me.

Why would this be another "cash-cow" ??

People should not be using bloody phones when driving.
They need to keep their hands on the steering wheel.

Write tickets and make them high!

HD it is not about not keeping your hands on the wheel but where did they get thier information from before enacting another law and fines. Do you just go along with anything the government does. Like posts above there are lots of other distractions. Myself I think this is a sham from a currupt government making out like they are doing something, anything about nothing it turns out. Trying to direct attention from thier coruptions.

To me, the issue is one of concentration; when you are talking on the phone, at least some of your concentration is on the conversation, whether it is hands free or not. Most people can successfully drive a vehicle one handed, it's no great trick. In my opinion, there is no difference between holding a coffee or a sandwich and holding a cell phone, while driving. So (some) people are going to be driving down the road talking (handsfree) on the phone, and holding a coffee or what ever. The roads are not going to be any safer. I don't belive that this has anything to do with revenue, it is yet another step toward idiot proofing the world. For me, I am not going to buy into a hands free gadget, I will just refrain from using the electronic leash whilst in control of a motor vehicle on public roads in the city. But I will probably still have a cup of hot coffee to drink while driving.
metalman.

Seamult, you have been listening to to much left wing radical bs..

When some one yepping on a phone kills one of your kids you will change your opinion.

If you want to gossip on the phone stay home or pull over to the side of the road. Don't give me that "corrupt government" stuff. I'm getting tired of it.

Hmm...HD

When a new driver comes behind the wheel, yes both hands on steering wheel, no tunes, no radio, no distractions...I will give you that...

However, as with any skill, one is gradually able to listen to the radio and drive.

No two drivers are created equal. It comes down to driving within your ability. Personally, I can't justify cellphones so I agree with the ban. But I do see where this law is merely a duplicate of driving without undue care and attention. So in that sense, yes this law is another cash cow.

My solution is that every single driver should be required to take the defensive driving course. Always thinking ahead and being aware of your surroundings is what keeps everyone safe on the road.

Next, there should be something against dogs in the front of a vehicle. I don't know how some people drive with those things running around in the car and over the driver's lap and over to the open window. I think that would be classified as a distraction.

Yes to the idea of mandatory defensive driving training prior to applying for your BCDL. And make it tough so that idiots fail and have to take it again, and again, etc.
metalman.

Just in case anyone would like to read it, here is the study, done by the ultra critical safety watchdog, The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. You know, the mega big outfit that crash tests cars and gets shown on Dateline and the news all the time. Their study involves MILLIONS of incidents all over the USA and statistically dwarfs any study that can be done in Canada.

http://www.iihs.org/news/rss/pr012910.html

From their study: before cell bans useage was increasing at incredible rates, but accidents were holding static or dropping; after cell bans useage dropped significantly but accidents remained stable, no reduction.
This trend is contrary to the evidence they have that operating a car while talking on a cell makes the driver more likely to have an accident because of the distraction.
I have a few theories: there is a percentage of drivers out there that are bad drivers with poor judgement and they will cause more accidents regardless of the type of distraction they are engaged in;
while driving the more sane persons have more sense as to when it is a bad idea to be playing with some form of distraction, ie: drive first, everything else when appropriate;
drivers of the road ADJUST to changing conditions. We adjust our driving to suit weather and road conditions, we also adjust to traffic patterns. This means we are adjusting to the twit yakking away instead of going, signalling, merging, etc. We do not just blindly drive into bad drivers who are not obeying the rules of the road, we use DEFENSIVE driving techniques.
If there were more drivers capable of true defensive driving instead of zooming around in their invunerable steel shell with feathers in their brain, Accidents would come down.
Want to feel vunerable and learn how to be on full defensive alert, try driving a motorcycle.