Durham police say a RIDE checkpoint on Thursday night caught a man watching a movie on his smartphone while driving. Police say the 49-year-old man entered the RIDE line with his smartphone sitting on his steering column, playing a movie. He was charged with driving with a handheld entertainment device.
The charge comes with a fine of $490 and three demerit points. According to police, distracted driving has surpassed impaired driving as the No. 1 cause of fatal collisions.
The RIDE checkpoint was set up on Winchester Road just west of Thornton Road in Whitby by DRPS and the OPP. More than 450 cars were checked and 16 roadside tests administered, but there were no criminal charges.
However, officers in the traffic services branch have been busy in the past week charging three people with stunt driving. In one case a car was traveling 105 kilometres per hour in a 50 zone, a second case involved a driver hitting 119 in a 60 zone and third driver was traveling 115 kilometres per hour in a 60 zone.
Source: The Brampton Guardian