Phone Use While Driving

WHEREAS Transport Canada recommends against using cell phones while driving because of adverse effects on situational awareness, including reaction time and mirror sampling, and research has show that phone use in motor vehicles quadruples the chance of a collision during the call period, a rate equivalent to the impairment caused by legal intoxication, and the same research reports that hands-free phones do not seem to offer safety advantages over hand-held devices; AND WHEREAS the use of electronic devices while driving has escalated dramatically in recent years: THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that Union of BC Municipalities UBCM write a letter to the provincial government voicing the UBCMs support for restrictions on the use of cellular phones by drivers.