THE CANADIAN PRESS
LONDON, Ont. - The urge to respond to the distracting ring of a cellphone cost a 17-year-old driver his life and offers a tragic example of why several provinces have laws to keep drivers off their phones and focused on the road, officials said Thursday.
The teen and a 16-year-old girl were rushed to a London, Ont., hospital Wednesday evening after an SUV veered off the road, struck a median and flipped.
The girl was released with minor injuries but the 17-year-old was pronounced dead Thursday.
The victim, who the family asked not be identified until his relatives were contacted, was trying to fish his ringing cellphone out of his pocket and got "mentally and physically" distracted enough to lose control of his vehicle, police said.
"In our day and age it is almost a conditioned response for the vast majority of people to feel the need to answer the phone, or answer an email, as soon as it pops up on your screen, or rings a bell, or vibrates," said London police Sgt. Tom O'Brien.
"We need to un-condition ourselves. We need to condition ourselves to the fact that driving takes 110 per cent of our attention ... and really force ourselves to ignore, for the moment, that ringing phone."
The fatal crash came just months before a new Ontario law is to take effect banning the use of hand-held devices to talk, email, or send text messages while behind the wheel.
Ontario's new rules include a fine of up to $500 as the province joins other jurisdictions in cracking down on drivers using the devices. It is the fourth province to enact such a ban, following Newfoundland and Labrador, Quebec and Nova Scotia.
The teen driver's tragic death reinforces the need for legislation, said Ontario Transportation Minister Jim Bradley.
"I know there are some people who think we're imposing on their rights, when we impose on their right to use a hand-held device, to be talking on the phone (while driving)," Bradley said.
The majority of people, though, who have used their cellphones while driving support the ban, Bradley added.
"I think they recognize when they're doing it they are distracted, and this is a tragic example of the consequences of that."
