Saskatchewan is the latest Canadian province to pass into law a ban on hand-held cellphones while driving. The new law received final reading yesterday and will come into effect on January 1st 2010.
“Distracted driving is a serious road safety issue,” Minister responsible for SGI June Draude said. “With the passing of this law we are fulfilling our commitment to make provincial roadways safer.”
The new law prohibits the use of hand-held devices to talk, text, email or surf the Internet while driving. Experienced drivers will be allowed to use hands-free devices but new drivers still in Saskatchewan’s Graduated Driver’s Licensing program will not be able to use any devices at all.
Drivers caught not following the new law will receive a CA$280 fine and lose four demerit points.
A similar law went into effect in Ontario back on October 26th.