Holiday Gift Guide »

90% of Ontario in Favour of Driving/Texting Ban

By: , IntoMobile
Monday, September 14th, 2009 at 9:19 AM

A recent survey of Ontarians has revealed that a wooping 90% are in favour of upcoming legislation that will ban texting while driving across the province. Over 20% already have necessary hands-free hardware, but that leaves a significant opportunity for accessories (be they Bluetooth or wired headsets and speakerphones) to fill a mandated demand. Sadly, 8% admitted they will be ignoring the ban, but hopefully legal and social pressures will squeeze that minority even lower.  Here are a few other interesting stats on people’s attitudes regarding texting while driving:

  • 62 per cent of men strongly agree with the legislation and 25 per cent moderately agree compared to 76 and 16 per cent of women respectively.
  • Compliance is lowest amongst those aged 18 to 34 with 14 per cent saying they will likely continue to use their hand-held communication device regardless of the law.
  • The highest level of support was among respondents aged 55 plus with 94 per cent indicating that they will comply and only three per cent planning to ignore the ban.
  • Regionally, Northern Ontario has the highest level of compliance with 98 per cent planning on complying with the law and no longer using their hand-held device while driving compared to 82 per cent in Eastern Ontario.
  • 85 per cent of men are aware of the ban compared to 79 per cent of women.

[via Sony Ericsson]

About The Author

Simon Sage

Simon Sage’s education largely surrounded writing, technology and online community, leading him to begin his blogging career at www.BlackBerryCool.com and to quickly discover a vibrant and active community surrounding BlackBerry and mobile technology. In exploring RIM’s platform, he has learned what enterprises are looking for in mobility as well as what makes the innocuous BlackBerry so appealing to them. Recently Simon’s been covering RIM’s gradual move into an already-crowded consumer market, and the impact of burgeoning challengers, such as the iPhone, as well as long-time leaders, like Nokia, on BlackBerry’s advancement. With plenty of content under his belt, Simon will be branching off a bit to see what other smartphone manufacturers are working on while still using BlackBerry as a barometer. At IntoMobile, you can count on his posts being even-handed, well-informed and thought-out.

  • canuckinnh

    I am surprised the nanny state (aka province) hadn’t banned texting already

    This will be followed by a new carbon tax that will tax the amount of breathing an individual will do. Heavy breathers will pay a stiff price.