Toronto Mayor a Distracted Driver?

Well if you look at the picture, it certainly looks like it now doesn’t it? Well…not according to the Ontario Highway Traffic Act (HTA) because the ‘Distracted Driving’ laws (HTA Reg. 366/09) only apply to electronic devices. This picture was snapped while Mayor Rob Ford of Toronto was driving on a highway at about 70km/hr…while reading. But he wasn’t reading a phone or laptop, which would clearly fall under the current distracted driving ban in Ontario, but rather, he was reading hand held…paper documents. So now what? Well…nothing actually.

There is no doubt that Mayor Ford isn’t paying enough attention to the road but was it technically illegal? No. According to Toronto Police Services – Traffic Services Division, it’s no more illegal than drinking coffee or adjusting your radio but even Clint Stibbe of TPS said in a phone call that the Mayor shouldn’t be doing that. Personally I would argue this is a case of “Careless Driving” as it’s worded in the HTA Sec. 130 where it states “drives a vehicle without due care and attention”. The reality is though that Sec. 130 of the HTA can only be applied if there is an obvious (obvious to an officer) lack of control of the vehicle.

Reading while driving is not the same as having a sip of coffee or blindly reaching down to press one of the preset buttons on your radio. It uses a different part of the brain because reading uses part of your brain governing ‘cognitive thought’ whereas having a sip of coffee does not.

But what’s really bothersome about this is the position of the Mayor himself when questioned about the incident. He didn’t care.

“Yeah, probably. I’m busy,” Ford said abruptly when asked about the photo at a Tuesday press conference. “I try to catch up on my work. I keep my eyes on the road, but I am a busy man.” and he later said “It is ridiculous questions sometimes, seriously.” Obviously Mayor Ford has little regard for safe, attentive driving. He doesn’t think he was doing anything wrong. Perhaps not legally…but really? Come on now. Distracted driving doesn’t seem to be a concern for this driver and as the Mayor of a city where so many are injured each year as a result of distracted driving…it should be.

Toronto Police Services did go on record to say “on behalf of all the citizens of Toronto that value road safety, Mr Mayor… please get a driver. It is obvious that you are busy enough to require one and no amount of money you are saving by not having one is worth the life of one of your citizens.”

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