Don’t touch your cellphone or tablet while driving farm equipment on a public road or you will be charged

Farmers Forum staff

OTTAWA — Be careful with that cell phone or tablet in the tractor or combine cab.

Ontario’s distracted driving law applies to vehicle drivers and to farmers at the wheel of their equipment when on the road.

The trouble begins when a screen — typically a tablet or cell phone — is used for entertainment or things otherwise unrelated to driving or running that piece of farm equipment.

If you’re “watching a Netflix movie while you’re driving, you’re gonna fall into some issues if you are stopped,” Ministry of Transportation officer Andrew Smith said in a video presentation aimed at farmers during the Ontario agricultural conference last month.

Drivers are also strictly prohibited from using handheld devices like cell phones when the vehicle is in motion unless the device is mounted to the dash. Even then, the law mandates that you can’t touch the screen or press any buttons on the device unless it is to either start or end a call,” Smith said.

That’s it. No noodling around with apps, adjusting GPS maps, etc. And no texting, of course.

Display screens that are part of a tractor or combine’s regular operations are “fine,” Smith said.

If a police or MTO (Ontario Ministry of Transportation) officer believes the driver has violated any aspect of the distracted driving law, the consequences are severe upon conviction. A $500 to $1,000 fine, 3 demerit points and a 3-day licence suspension on the first offence; a fine of up to $2,000 and a 7-day licence suspension on the second offence; and a fine of up to $3,000 and a 30-day licence suspension on the third. Six demerit points are applied on the second offence and beyond.