Police see it daily—drivers trying to steer while simultaneously texting with their Blackberries or cellphones.

“It’s just absolutely crazy,” says RCMP E Division Traffic Services Supt. Norm Gaumont. “When you’re texting, your eyes aren’t even on the road at all.”

The senior traffic enforcement Mountie hopes any provincial government law to ban cellphone calls while driving extends to texting and the use of other devices.

“We’re hoping that government moves forward with banning all personal electronic devices,” Gaumont said, adding that should include cellphones, Blackberries, personal video players and computers.

“I’ve seen people actually playing computer games while driving,” said Gaumont, who is convinced such gadgets distract drivers and contribute to crashes in B.C.

Solicitor General Kash Heed has called for public input by Aug. 7 on possible restrictions on cellphone use.

The province wants to know what devices people think should be restricted, whether hands-free use should be allowed and how high the penalties should be.

Also up for debate is whether such a law should target all drivers or specific groups, such as new drivers.

A possible exemption for professional drivers or emergency responders is also being mulled.

Gaumont argues no one should be exempted.

“I don’t believe any emergency personnel should be driving with their Blackberry and texting or have their phones in their ear.”

He doesn’t see any problem enforcing a law that would cover all hand-held devices.

Hands-free cellphone use would be much harder to enforce, Gaumont said, although he considers it just as dangerous.

The new B.C. government discussion paper backs that up, citing evidence from multiple studies across the world.

“There is no difference between the cognitive diversion associated with hands-free and hand-held cellphone use,” it says.

Drivers fail to mentally process roughly half of what they see when they’re talking on a phone, regardless of the technology.

Their slowed reaction times contribute to crashes and near misses, says the report.

Driver distraction is blamed for about 25 per cent of crashes, the report says, translating into 117 deaths and 1,400 injuries requiring hospitalization in B.C. each year, along with direct financial costs of $1 billion annually.

The use of cellphones and other wireless electronic devices are “the number one cause of distraction,” the report says, along with other distractions like eating while driving and personal grooming.

Talking to a passenger doesn’t cause the same degree of distraction as a mobile phone conversation, it says.

Nor is listening to radio, music or a book on tape a concern.

U.S. research has concluded cellphone calls put a driver at a four times greater risk of crashing, and that cellphone use while driving is responsible for six per cent of all crashes.

But Mike Cain, a researcher with the group SENSE (Safety by Enforcement Not Speed Enforcement), calls such statistics “garbage.”

Accident rates have fallen in recent years despite the rapid growth in cellphone use, he says.

“Those findings are not borne out by the real world experience,” he said.

SENSE argues police should use existing laws and charge motorists who don’t use wireless devices safely with driving without due care and attention.

Cain said a ban on cellphone use may lead motorists whose phones ring to unsafely pull off the highway in order to legally answer them.

“The unintended consequence is going to be merging accidents on highways and even on residential streets where there’s insufficient space for people to pull off safely,” he said.

Calls to pry cellphones out of the hands of drivers have grown in recent years.

Recent polls peg support for cellphone restrictions at 85 per cent in B.C.

There have been repeated calls for action from civic politicians and the B.C. Medical Association.

The B.C. Association of Chiefs of Police this spring came out in support of regulations.

The B.C. Automobile Association has proposed a ban that would target only new drivers in the graduated licensing program.

The government discussion paper notes young and new drivers are a high-risk group with double the rate of road deaths who are also heavy adopters of mobile phones, texting and music players.

“A combination of inexperience, a tendency toward greater risk-taking and a significantly higher than average use of electronic devices combine to make this group of drivers particularly vulnerable,” the paper says.

Voluntary bans on the rise

Even if it isn’t outlawed, pressure to hang up that cellphone before getting behind the wheel is coming from other sources.

Major employers like BC Hydro, Telus and WorkSafeBC already ban their workers from using cellphones while driving.

And that trend may accelerate as companies are held liable for accidents caused by their cellphone-wielding employees.

“In the United States, employers are increasingly being sued and found guilty for allowing their employees to talk on cell phones while driving on company business,” says the B.C. government discussion paper on possible cellphone limits.

Some high-profile cases have seen judgments ordering firms to to pay up to $2 million to victims.

Technology may even help curb drivers who talk and text.

New GPS technology will be able to detect when a cellphone is in use and in motion and block its use.

“These technologies could assist all drivers in managing their cellular phones and other mobile devices while driving,” says the government paper.

But for the most part, burgeoning technology is the problem, not the answer.

The growing in-vehicle use of music players, cellphones, wireless laptops and the like are being fanned in part by wireless technology now built into many new vehicles that “sends the indirect message that all of this represents the norm.”

Most of Canada ahead of B.C. on phone ban

B.C. will soon be in a shrinking minority of Canadian provinces with no rules limiting the use of cellphones while driving.

Quebec, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador ban hand-held cellphone use by all drivers.

Alberta, Ontario and Manitoba have either proposed or are drafting similar legislation.

Ontario’s ban is to take effect this fall, fining violators up to $500 if they use hand-held communication devices, portable video games, MP3 players or DVD players while driving.

Prince Edward Island prohibits new drivers from using cellphones or any hand-held electronic device while driving. At least a dozen U.S. states have a similar new driver restriction.

And just across the border, Washington State has banned the use of phones held to the driver’s ear – allowing hands-free and loudspeaker settings – as well as any electronic device to read or send text messages.

The B.C. government’s discussion paper warns laws that allow hands-free wireless conversations may actually be dangerous, creating a false sense of security that hands-free is okay when most evidence indicates it is no less distracting than hand-held use.

Bus drivers to hang up cellphones

The days of seeing bus drivers talking on cellphones as they carry dozens of passengers should soon end.

Coast Mountain Bus Co. spokesman Derek Zabel says a new radio system has now been installed in nearly all buses in the fleet.

Cellphones were being used as a stop-gap measure until the new GPS-equipped system was fully installed.

The new system lets drivers push a single button to connect to dispatchers, who can instantly locate the exact position of a bus if there’s an emergency.

It will also provide pre-set text messages that can be sent to dispatch.

The system won’t allow drivers to compose text messages while the bus is in motion, Zabel said.

Personal use of cellphones will still be allowed when buses are stopped.

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