B.C. would become the seventh province to restrict hand-held cellphone use by drivers if provincial legislation introduced Wednesday is adopted.B.C. would become the seventh province to restrict hand-held cellphone use by drivers if provincial legislation introduced Wednesday is adopted.

B.C. Solicitor General Kash Heed has introduced a bill that would prohibit drivers from using cellphones while driving, unless the phones are connected to hands-free devices.

Those who are classified as drivers in the "learner" or "novice" stage of the province's Graduated Licensing Program (GLP) would be barred from using any type of cellphone at all when behind the wheel under the proposed legislation.

Proposed B.C. Motor Vehicle Act changes

Prohibited actions and devices while driving:

  • No operating or holding hand-held cellphones or other electronic devices.
  • No sending or reading emails and/or texting (e.g., BlackBerry, PDA, cellphone).
  • No operating or holding hand-held music or portable gaming devices (e.g., MP3 players, iPods).
  • No manual programming or adjusting GPS systems, whether built in to the vehicle or not, while driving. Settings must be programmed before driving.

Permitted actions and devices:

  • Hands-free cellphones that are built in or securely fixed to the vehicle, and used by pressing a single button — once only — in order to activate a hands-free device for incoming or outgoing calls.
  • Pre-programmed and voice-activated GPS devices.
  • Two-way radios for industry (e.g., trucking, logging, oil and gas).
  • Any of the above devices can be used if the vehicle is legally parked and not impeding traffic.
  • 911 calls to report an emergency.

Graduated licence drivers (GLP):

  • In addition to the above restrictions and permitted actions, new drivers are prohibited from using hands-free communications devices (e.g. cellphones on speaker mode) while driving.

Exemptions to the legislation include police, fire and ambulance personnel who may need to make calls in the performance of their duties.

Source: B.C. Ministry of the Solicitor General

Novice drivers are those who have 12 months of prohibition-free driving at the "learner" stage and have passed the first of two road tests.

The use of other portable electronic devices and text messaging would be banned outright for all drivers.

Heed said the provincial government was intent on restricting the use of "devices that take a driver's hands off the wheel and their eyes from the road."

"Simply put, you cannot talk, type or dial on any hand-held device while driving," Heed said.

The changes are scheduled to take effect Jan. 1 if the bill passes through the B.C. legislature.

At that point, only hands-free cellphones and devices that require one touch to activate will be permitted.

A new $167 fine will begin to be levied as of Feb. 1, 2010. If drivers are caught texting or emailing, they will also receive three penalty points on their driving records.

Drivers in the GLP would receive the $167 fine and three penalty points for any violation of the legislation.

According to independent research and studies, cellphone use while driving is the No. 1 cause of distracted driving, the Solicitor General's Ministry said in a news release about Heed's bill.

On average, 117 people die each year in B.C. and 1,400 are sent to hospital because someone was not paying attention behind the wheel, the release said.

The changes bring British Columbia in line with the provinces of Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, and Newfoundland and Labrador. Alberta recently announced that it intends to introduce similar distracted-driving legislation this fall.