….David Hollingsworth, who runs a personal injury practice for plaintiffs at Goldberg Wiseman Stroud & Hollingsworth LLP  in Ottawa, says one of the big issues in his city is a couple of really “nasty” collisions involving cyclists and buses.

“We have designated bus lanes and designated cyclist lanes and locations in the city where you have to cut across the bus lane to the cyclist lane. There was a fatality, a young woman, doing just that.  That is a hot topic here in Ottawa right now. There have been articles in the paper about what should be done, what they’re going to do to make our cyclists safer.”

Another issue is the widespread flouting of the ban on driving while using a cellphone. But Kwinter says it’s a very difficult law to enforce. “You can pass all the laws you want but if you can’t enforce it so you can take somebody to court and get a conviction, what good is the law?

I haven’t seen any cases where people have been charged but I would think that a police officer would have to be following someone. And if you’re following someone at night, it would be virtually impossible to see what they’re doing.

How do you ever look into the car from behind a vehicle? In the daytime, you’d have to be either following the vehicle for a considerable period of time or be stopped beside the vehicle.

And if anyone sees that they’re being followed by a cop car or that one is beside them, they’re not going to talk on their cellphone.”

Hollingsworth agrees, noting he hasn’t seen or heard of any instances of enforcement. He thinks people are on the phone even more now since cars are better equipped. “There’s no question it’s a problem,” he says.

“You have to dial the number, especially now with 10-digit numbers, and BlackBerrys have small buttons. You can see drivers tapping away at their phone. I guess any conversation, changing the CD is a distraction. But they’ve not got it up at their ear; they’ve got it down in their lap or leaning against the steering wheel.”

The issue has also become an important matter in litigation. “I have a number of cases right now, one in particular which is a fatality, where the strong suggestion is that the driver who caused the accident was texting,” Hollingsworth says.

“That’s now a common thing. Almost every time you’re in an examination for discovery, the question comes up for both parties: whether you were on your cellphone or were texting. The followup question almost always is, ‘Can I have your cellphone records?’ Obviously, that kind of distraction would lead to the contribution of fault.”….

 
It’s more like a political move than anything else. Certainly, it’s quite clear that cellphone use causes accidents. I read one study that said a 20-year-old on a cellphone driving has the same reaction time as a 70-year-old without a cellphone.”….