Travelling in Quebec with a cell phone

[slypx]

It is now illegal to drive in Quebec with a cell phone

*** ADMIN - I understand it could be in the general scanning forum or RR wasteland, but it only concern Eastern Canada members ... and scanners in a gray zone ***

Friendly advice too all of you from a Quebec member ...

In the first part COPS on duty are exempt and it does not involved two way radios, but scanners are in a «gray zone» I guest.

Be careful, beginning Tuesday April 1st, in the province of Quebec, there will be two major modification to traffic infractions.

1 - Usage of cell phones

It will be illegal to drive and to hold a cell phone or Blackberry and all the similar, in your hand.

Having it in your hand will be presume has being operated and therefore making you eligible for a 115 $ and 3 points ticket. Same for usage at a traffic light or a stop, you are consider as driving. Only hand free equipment, wired or wireless, will be accepted. Hand free equipment price will be rising!!!

For the first three months there will be warning given and as of July 1st the law will be fully enforced.

See PDF at http://www.saaq.gouv.qc.ca/publications/prevention/handcell_illegal.pdf


2 - Speeding infraction

Also as of the same date there will be higher finds (double) and points (double) for excessive speed infractions.

See PDF at http://www.saaq.gouv.qc.ca/publications/prevention/excessive_speeding.pdf

Both links are in english ...

________________

Same goes for Nova Scotia and as of April 1st also

http://www.gov.ns.ca/tran/CellPhoneAd.pdf

 

[mciupa]

Thank God , the sidewalks will be safe to walk on in Montreal again.

 

[slicerwizard]

If you don't like my driving, Stay the hell off the sidewalk!

 

[torontokris]

Although I agree with the law...

My question is how do you dial if you cant hold the phone (Only hands free equipment, wired or wireless, will be accepted)? Some high end phones may have voice dial but in general I bet most phones dont.

Plus if I cant even hold the phone at a light.. should people EXIT thier car at a stoplight.. then dial.. switch to the handsfree then get back in the car?

And are cops still allowed to type away on thier MDT's while driving? hmm

 

[slypx]

Although I agree with the law...

My question is how do you dial if you cant hold the phone (Only hands free equipment, wired or wireless, will be accepted)? Some high end phones may have voice dial but in general I bet most phones dont.

Plus if I cant even hold the phone at a light.. should people EXIT thier car at a stoplight.. then dial.. switch to the handsfree then get back in the car?

And are cops still allowed to type away on thier MDT's while driving? hmm

1 - They don't want you to dial, period!
2 - ... I don't know a lot of people that are stepping out of the vehicule at traffic lights ...
3 - Yes, one of the few contrarieties in the law...

The law was pushed by the government following a coroner inquiries that attributed, in Quebec only, 26 lost of lives in the last 7 years in car accidents that were directly imputable to cell phone use...

 

[plaws]

Some high end phones may have voice dial but in general I bet most phones dont.

????

I have the bottom-of-the-line Nokia that came free from T-Mobile and it has voice dial. It also came with an earbud ...

 

[mtlfirebuff]

Emergency vehicles are exempt.

 

[VE3RADIO]

only in quebec.. so glad i dont live there!

 

[EJB]

only in quebec.. so glad i dont live there!

Dude if that is the only reason you dont live there then I am speechless, there is alot more to complain about la belle province, lol.
There is no better place to grow up as a young man for reasons I wont bore you with.
Well two being beer being readily available in your corner dep & a hockey team with a clue (mcuipa how many years has it been, 41?)
Besides the cell phone law will probably be passed here also.

 

[plaws]

There is no better place to grow up as a young man for reasons I wont bore you with.

Oh, come on!

 

[EJB]

Oh, come on!

Plaws

Why not?
My college did not cost a cent.
My university education was 660 bucks a year.
There was little violence, you were safe, beer & dope was easy to get if you were into that,
Montreal was a great party city, you forget that everyone went to Montreal to party.

In Oklahoma you might not have language problems but I bet your murder rate in any city is higher, I bet it is more common to have tornadoes or killer draughts or heatwaves than Montreal.
How much is it going to cost your children to go to school?
Do you have health care? Medicare in Quebec is what it is but it is free?
Your sin laws are hard for teens, 21 drinking age being the main thing.

And honestly Plaws maybe you did not like Montreal cause you were a Waste Islander
The Pioneer bar wasnt the end all.

 

[Jammin_Jay]

I think we have gone off the original point of this thread. To do with Cell phones and driving in Quebec. If i am not mistaken, i believe Ontario looked at the same issue, but has most likely not completed studies for a pending decision to make law. My question is what is the difference in talking on a radio vs. a cell phone, your still driving doing both aren't you?

 

[EJB]

I think we have gone off the original point of this thread. To do with Cell phones and driving in Quebec. If i am not mistaken, i believe Ontario looked at the same issue, but has most likely not completed studies for a pending decision to make law. My question is what is the difference in talking on a radio vs. a cell phone, your still driving doing both aren't you?

Jay:Quite simply it is about revenue.
This is a way the gov't to get more of it.
Some of us were being humourous about the joie de vivre of Quebec.
Mcuipa mentioned that the sidewalks would be safe now. A pretty good joke

I know a little a bout you, anti-earth day & originally from Markham, now living in Texas north
have you ever spent more than a few days in Quebec?
Curious.

 

[Jammin_Jay]

Yes i have, and driven in Montreal, plenty of times. Even without the cellphones, driving on The Quebec Highways and Roads, seems more of a challenge in the City with other drivers *. But thats all i am going to say.

 

[EJB]

Quebecers drive no different than anyone else Jay.
Driving a few times there cant really qualify you as being an expert.
In fact they probably drive better than most considering the long winters.
It is probably a city thing, ever drive in Boston or NYC?

i grew up in Montreal & learned to drive there, now drive e very day in the GTA
Very little difference, they drive faster here, slightly less agressive since the 50 over 7 day OPP blitiz

I bet you had out of province plates or a rental.

To keep it on topic, you know full well that this is just a way for the province, any province to draw in $, it has to come from somewhere right. It is probably as you say, just as unsafe to talk on a radio, fudge with your ipod & blackberry than talk to your wife on a cell.

 

[plaws]

In Oklahoma you might not have language problems but I bet your murder rate in any city is higher, I bet it is more common to have tornadoes or killer draughts or heatwaves than Montreal.

Actually, I got exactly what I paid for at John Abbott ... nothing. OK, I did meet my future wife, but aside from that ...

Our murder rate is higher because we have more guns. Lots and lots of guns. But very little snow.

It costs me about $1500 (IIRC) to send everyone else's kids to school - it's the bulk of my property tax. Don't know what percentage of state income tax goes to education.

Yes, I have healthcare. And had my aunt lived here and not in Kingston, she would have had her hip replaced in weeks instead of years.

As for the Pioneer ... that was the one in the Village (of Pointe Claire), right? On Lakeshore? Never went there, sorry (wasn't it a disco?)

Now, why so defensive?

 

[EJB]

Actually, I got exactly what I paid for at John Abbott ... nothing. OK, I did meet my future wife, but aside from that ...

Our murder rate is higher because we have more guns. Lots and lots of guns. But very little snow.

It costs me about $1500 (IIRC) to send everyone else's kids to school - it's the bulk of my property tax. Don't know what percentage of state income tax goes to education.

Yes, I have healthcare. And had my aunt lived here and not in Kingston, she would have had her hip replaced in weeks instead of years.

As for the Pioneer ... that was the one in the Village (of Pointe Claire), right? On Lakeshore? Never went there, sorry (wasn't it a disco?)

Now, why so defensive?

Dont mean to be defensive, sorry Plaws.
I am just teasing about the West Island stuff, as you know I come from snobby Downtown stock & grew up a west ender.
I dunno, I am getting nostalgic about Montreal, dont get me wrong I could never live there again but you grew up there, you gotta admit it was unique, the clash of cultures is not like anything else in North America.
Easy to drink, get a fake ID, it was a good place to come from.

The Pioneer was I think on Lakeshore, In my time (85-93) it was a rock bar but not a tough one. Now do you remember the Maples Inn?

 

[plaws]

Now do you remember the Maples Inn?

Yes, but IIRC, it burned before I was 18 ... My cousin's band played there in the 1970s ... He's a Java developer for Toyota now ... so much for fame and fortune.

Pointe Claire FD was on 412.1875 ... full-duplex ... with telephone-style handsets in the apparatus, even.

All gone now, sucked into the maelstrom of "fusion".

 

[torontokris]

2 - ... I don't know a lot of people that are stepping out of the vehicule at traffic lights ...

Hence my sarcasm...

 

[torontokris]

????

I have the bottom-of-the-line Nokia that came free from T-Mobile and it has voice dial. It also came with an earbud ...

Again off topic but to reply to your comment...
I have a early version $599US Apple iphone (its now $399).. and it doesnt come with voice dial...
So not all phones have it.. I was saying in general terms.

Nokia's are good phones to me, no matter what the price.