B.C.’s Solicitor General Kash Heed has brought in long-overdue legislation to ban drivers from talking on hand-held cellphones.

The ban also includes texting while driving, and using portable electronic devices.

Such a ban is long overdue. There are far too many distracted drivers out there. Those who are on the roads see them every day.

The unfortunate thing is that this ban has taken far too long to be implemented. As a result, talking on cellphones has become daily routine for many drivers, and it will be difficult for them to change their habits, simply because a new law is in place. Of course, most of those who continue to do so will get away with it. Police can’t be everywhere at once, and the few who are fined will not stop the vast majority who do not face enforcement actions.

What is most likely to change public behaviour is an education campaign. One should be launched in connection with the implementation of the new law, which is set to take effect on Jan. 1. People need to be reminded of just how much more likely they are to get into a crash, if they are talking or texting while driving.

They also need to be shown just how much that costs them —in increased insurance premiums, in time lost from work, and in potential injury or even death. When it comes right down to it, most people will change their behaviours out of self-interest. Conversely, if they think a law doesn’t apply to them, they won’t obey it.

This proposed law banning drivers from using devices that distract them is an important one, but drivers who have taken to these devices have to be convinced that it is in their best interests to obey it. An extensive public relations campaign seems like the best way to convince at least some of them that they are better off complying with the law, rather than ignoring it.