Toronto Injury Lawyer Blog
Recently, a post went viral on Tik Tok of a York Regional Police officer checking out his mobile device while driving at what appeared to be a high speed.
It would seem unfair that a police officer would be driving around in his police cruiser checking out his cell phone because if members of the general public did the same, they would be given a ticket.
But is it?
There is a caveat in then Highway Traffic Act which permits police, fire and emergency responders to use the mobile devices while driving. There are likely good policy reasons behind these laws, but I cannot say for certain what policy reasons those might be. I can certainly make assumptions that using a mobile device as a police officer, fireman or emergency responder might be required.
Here is what the Highway Traffic Act has to say about operating your mobile device while driving:
Display screen visible to driver prohibited
78 (1) No person shall drive a motor vehicle on a highway if the display screen of a television, computer or other device in the motor vehicle is visible to the driver. 2009, c. 4, s. 1.
Same
(3) Subsection (1) does not apply to the driver of an ambulance, fire department vehicle or police department vehicle. 2009, c. 4, s. 1.
Hand-held devices prohibited Wireless communication devices
78.1 (1) No person shall drive a motor vehicle on a highway while holding or using a hand-held wireless communication device or other prescribed device that is capable of receiving or transmitting telephone communications, electronic data, mail or text messages. 2009, c. 4, s. 2; 2015, c. 27, Sched. 7, s. 18.
Entertainment devices
(2) No person shall drive a motor vehicle on a highway while holding or using a hand-held electronic entertainment device or other prescribed device the primary use of which is unrelated to the safe operation of the motor vehicle. 2009, c. 4, s. 2.
Exceptions
(4) Subsection (1) does not apply to,
(a) the driver of an ambulance, fire department vehicle or police department vehicle;
So what’s the penalty for a member of the general public if they are caught operating their mobile device while driving?
Here is what the Highway Traffic Act has to say when it comes to the penalties:
Penalty
(6.1) Every person who contravenes this section is guilty of an offence and on conviction is liable,
(a) for a first offence, to a fine of not less than $500 and not more than $1,000;
(b) for a first subsequent offence, to a fine of not less than $500 and not more than $2,000; and
(c) for a second subsequent or an additional subsequent offence, to a fine of not less than $500 and not more than $3,000. 2017, c. 26, Sched. 4, s. 16.
It doesn’t seem fair that a member of the general public can be ticketed and fined up to $3,000 while their insurance rates will go up for distracted driving; yet police officers can do the same an incur no such tickets, fines, or risks that their premiums increase.
If the officer portrayed in the viral Tik Tok video was operating his phone for good reason, then the York Regional Police should come out and explain that good reason. It does not set a good example to the public if no explanation is given. But, if this officer was perusing his social media account while driving on duty, then an internal investigation should be made. Either way, the public should now and the York Regional Police should make a statement one way or another. Failure to do so not only sends a bad message and example for the public, but it’s almost as if that sort of behaviour is being tolerated by the police force.
While it is true at law that police officers can operate their mobile devices while driving, it certainly doesn’t mean that they should be doing so for no good reason.
Distracted driving accidents has become more common place. We are seeing more distracted driving accidents at our office than we are drunk driving accidents. There is no difference between the personal injuries caused by a drunk driving accident vs. a distracted driving accident.
Of note, personal injury lawyers are able to determine whether to not a Defendant was distracted driving at the time of the accident. Personal injury lawyers can request cell phone and meta data records to determine what you were doing on your mobile device at the time of the accident. This data is used against defendant drivers in car accident cases in order to establish that the Defendant driver was not paying proper attention to the road. This is particularly important if the police did not charge the Defendant driver with a distracted driving offence because sometimes, the police get it wrong. It happens. It’s unfortunate but nobody is perfect. And sometimes even the police don’t get it right.
Does all of this mean that you should call the police, on the police, if you see a police officer texting while driving? Not at all. As discussed, unlike members of the general public, police officers are allowed to operate their mobile devices and drive (as crazy as that sounds). But just because they are doing so doesn’t mean that it’s safe for you to do so. There is likely a strong policy reason behind this, which is not spelled out in the Highway Traffic Act. Perhaps a legal historian can search the Hansard if there was any such debate in legislature. Or, perhaps this issue was simply overlooked and not debated at all.
Enough law talk? Sure. How bout dem Toronto Maple Leafs? I must confess, I don’t watch that much regular season NHL Hockey. But this season, I was captivated by Auston Matthews and his goal scoring prowess. I really wanted to see him hit the 70 goal mark. It was a lot of fun following his exploits. But alas, he drew 1 goal short of the 70 goal benchmark. You could tell that his entire team wanted him to hit 70 badly, and were upset that he didn’t. Can’t a Toronto sports team ever get a nice story? I’m not sure this season will end with a Toronto Stanley Cup, but it was certainly an entertaining regular season.
