Police in Ontario are planning an enforcement blitz of the new distracted driver law that went into effect February 1, so if you’re one of those who can’t go five minutes without checking your cell phone, Blackberry or hand-held GPS, or you can’t get enough of the Facebook app on your iPhone, be warned; it could cost you.

Police will be targeting drivers who are too distracted to be considered safe on the roadway, as part of their  “Don’t Hold the Phone,’ campaign. Their emphasis for the first week will be on young drivers, but don’t think you can escape detection because you’re older. The second week of enforcement will target everyone, regardless of age.

Lawmakers and Police consider texting to be more dangerous than even talking on a phone while driving, because the device is usually in the lap below the steering wheel and they have to look away from the road to type a message. According to Transport Canada statistics, drivers are four times more likely to be involved in a traffic accident while using hand-held devices.

Since February 1, when the legislation came into full effect, Police have handed out hundreds of tickets worth an average of $155. And that’s before the current crackdown.

One more thing; if you think you’re in the clear while using your device while sitting at a red light, Police would like to clarify that you’re still on the road and the law applies, so don’t.

Transport Canada and the tire industry will meet to establish guidelines to ensure that safety standards are met on snow tires. Currently, there are no legislated standards regarding the mountain snowflake symbol found on the sidewalls of snow tires, which leads groups like the Automobile Protection Association (APA) to believe consumers are at risk.

Some liken the potential hazards with what Canadians confronted several years ago with pet food contamination, and they are concerned that Canadian testing of snow tires imported from China and other countries may be inadequate, which leaves manufacturers and importers with too much opportunity to counterfeit products, or to simply slap a mountain snowflake on a tire that hasn’t been thoroughly tested.

The APA suggests that even tires that carry the logo legitimately often only meet the minimum standards and may not be adequate for winter driving conditions in various parts of Canada. Their tests of brand-name tires have found a wide variation in performance.

Both Transport Canada and tire industry organizations are concerned about the current situation, and they are hoping their meetings will create a specific set of standards that all consumers can rely on when buying tires. The certification should indicate that tires carrying the logo are safest for the winter conditions they face, and that such standards take into account traction on snow and ice.

Once the stricter standards are set, which will hopefully happen by this spring, Transport Canada hopes to conduct random testing on the tires and issue national recalls when tires fail.

A lot of job safety and traffic safety, and in fact, just safety in general, is basically common sense. You don’t need to read the manual of your microwave to know better than to try and use it to dry your clothes. What I try to emphasize is, yes, definitely, read the manual, know the proper procedures for what you do at work, attend all the safety demonstrations your company holds and memorize your driver’s manual, but more important than all of that put together is simply: Use your head.

Some time ago, I read of a woman who used laundry detergent as lemonade mix, and then sued the manufacturer for not issuing a clear warning on the box. And wouldn’t you know it, we now have laundry detergent boxes that basically read “Warning: Not Lemonade”.

It’s kind of ridiculous all the things we have to do because a small handful of people do not practice common sense. Next time you buy a cup of coffee, read the cup; “Contents may be hot”. Well yeah, I know, it’s coffee!

Unfortunately, we kind of live in a sue-happy society, and a lot of safety precautions tend to be more about dodging litigation than actually protecting anyone. I wish I had a dollar for every time I asked “Now why do you do that, exactly?” and got the response “For insurance reasons”.

The funny thing about this is the vast number of people who aren’t, in fact, lacking common sense, but who injure themselves as a profession. Small time con artists trying to squeeze a settlement out of business owners. A lot of the rules and disclaimers we have in place on products, on job sites, in driver’s manuals, it comes down to the manufacturer or employer trying not to fall prey to a petty con.

I don’t want to gripe too much, it comes with the territory. I may as well whine about the speed bumps in my parking lot. I obey the speed limit, but a lot of people don’t.

I think all employers have a responsibility to make sure that their employees are going to be safe if they practice common sense. There’s sue-happy, and then there are instances where somebody does everything the right way and winds up being injured thanks to outdated equipment or some mistake on their employer’s part, and really is entitled to medical costs and lost wages, at the very least.

And then… an employer owes it to themselves to protect their own behinds against professional plaintiffs.

THE AUTHOR OF THIS ARTICLE DOES NOT ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY FOR ANY INJURY OR DAMAGE RESULTING FROM MISUSE OF THE CONTENTS THEREIN. THE ABOVE ARTICLE IS NOT INTENDED TO BE MADE INTO A SANDWICH, OR EATEN WITH A BOWL OF SOUP AND A BEER.