Texting and Driving: A Dangerous Combination

Honda recently released a video to highlight the dangers of texting and driving. This was part of Honda’s larger goal of promoting a safer, overall driving experience. This sounds like a noble goal, but people often ask themselves “am I really at risk by doing this?” The risk is there! Whether it is from causing a traffic accident, or being issued a hefty fine if you are caught, texting and driving just doesn’t seem worth it

Drivers who are texting are 23 times more likely to be involved in a crash than those who weren’t. In Ontario, that translated into 78 deaths in 2013 in distracted driving related accidents. “Distracted driving” seems like a broad term, but the laws in Ontario are very specific. Since 2009, it is illegal to talk, text, dial, or email using a handheld device in Ontario. If you are caught, you can be fined from $280.00 – $500.00 if you contest the charge. If police have found that you were endangering others with your distracted driving, you could be charged with careless driving. At this point, the fines can go up to $2000.00.

When it comes to texting while driving, the risk just isn’t worth the “reward”. This is especially true when one considers that it is not illegal to use handsfree calling and texting apps. Honda’s HondaLink makes it easy to do both of these, through a touchscreen on the centre of the dashboard.

Frank is one of our former employees, but he did an excellent demonstration on how easy it is to begin using HondaLink. If you need help connecting your phone to HondaLink, contact your sales person who helped you with your vehicle, or click here to contact us!

If you would like to know more about Ontario’s laws on using a phone while driving, click here for a .pfd FAQ page or click here for a chart of texting and driving laws across Canada.