Placing cellphone in the cupholder while using GPS navigation is also punishable by heavy fines under Quebec's revamped Highway Safety Code.

Placing your cellphone in your vehicle’s cupholder while using a GPS mapping device, or chatting on the device’s hands-free speakerphone could cost you at least $300 and five demerit points.

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Steeve Poulin was pulled over in September 2018 by a police officer who testified Poulin was speaking on his phone for over 15 minutes while driving and passing through a car wash in Rosemère, located just north of Laval. Poulin testified his wife held the phone while he spoke via the device’s speakerphone, making him innocent because the law says drivers can use hands-free devices.

Judge Jean-Sébastien Brunet disagreed. He ruled last month that even if Poulin’s version of events were true (which Brunet said was unlikely), his use of the phone would still be illegal, because changes to Quebec’s Highway Safety Code last May stipulate a driver can only speak on a cellular phone if it’s connected through an external device such as the vehicle’s Bluetooth system, or through a Bluetooth headset.

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A phone can only be used for GPS purposes if it’s mounted on a bracket attached to the vehicle. And it can only be used for purposes related to driving the car, which means talking, shuffling through music tracks or texting are all considered illegal activities, even if the phone is mounted on a dashboard or windshield bracket.

Poulin had to pay his $300 ticket plus additional court fees.

“Your initial thought could be yes, your hands are free, you’re talking on the phone, it’s the same thing as if it’s plugged in to the Bluetooth of your car,” said lawyer Thierry Rassam, president of the SOS Ticket firm that specializes in defending motorists. “But the judge said the law says the hearing device must be external to the phone itself – putting it on speaker phone does not work.”

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Rassam said he thinks the judgment will hold, even if Poulin appeals it.

“The intention of the legislator is to ban use of cellphones while driving, with only specific exceptions. The general rule is you can’t do it.”

According to Rassam, under the judge’s interpretation of the law:

A cellphone can only be used in the car if it is mounted on a bracket that doesn’t interfere with driving. It can only be used for GPS navigational apps. The driver is allowed to touch the screen to alter his trajectory

A mounted cellphone cannot be used for other purposes, like speaking, texting or shuffling through music playlists. A police officer who sees a screen displaying text messages could presume the driver had been texting and issue a ticket

A driver cannot have the phone lying beside him or in the coffee holder, even for GPS use. Best to put it away in a pocket or glove compartment

A driver can make telephone calls through their in-car Bluetooth device, as long as they control it through their steering-wheel controls, and not through the screen

Drivers cannot manipulate their in-car screens for any purpose other than those “relevant to driving or riding the vehicle or related to the operation of its usual equipment,” the law reads. Actions like scrolling through texts are not allowed.

Drivers can use a Bluetooth headphone connected to their cellphone, or listen to their cellphone through a wire connected to a headphone, but must only use one earbud. The headphones would indicate the user never has to touch the screen of his phone to make or answer a call.

Other devices, like an Apple Watch, would fall under the same prohibited category

Cellphones can be used to call 911

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SOS Ticket has been receiving a “ton of calls” related to these types of infractions, indicating that police are cracking down, Rassam said. Fines for a first offence range from $300 to $600 and a loss of five demerit points. Repeat infractions could lead to fines of $600 to $1,200 and result in an immediate licence suspension of three, seven or 30 days depending on whether it is a first, second or third offence within a two-year period. Beating the tickets would be difficult, Rassam said.

“It’s a game-changer,” Rassam said. “The law came into effect and people are not realizing how much of a change they have to bring to their driving behaviour. I hope they don’t have to get a ticket to learn.”

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From the Quebec Highway Safety Code

443.1. Every driver of a road vehicle and every cyclist are prohibited from using a cellular telephone or any other portable device designed to transmit or receive information or to be used for entertainment purposes, or from using a display screen, except in the following cases:

(1) the driver of the road vehicle uses a hands-free device; or

(2) the driver of the road vehicle or the cyclist consults the information displayed on a display screen, including that of a portable device, or uses a screen command if the screen

(a) displays only such information as is relevant to driving or riding the vehicle or related to the operation of its usual equipment;

(b) is integrated into the vehicle or mounted on a bracket, whether detachable or not, attached to the vehicle;

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(c) is placed so as not to obstruct the driver’s or cyclist’s view, interfere with driving or riding manoeuvres, or prevent the operation of equipment or reduce its efficiency and in a manner that does not present a risk of injury in case of an accident; and

(d) is positioned and designed in such a way that the driver of the road vehicle or cyclist can operate and consult it easily.

For the purposes of the first paragraph, the driver of a road vehicle or cyclist who is holding a portable device in hand or in any other manner is presumed to be using the device.

The Government may, by regulation, determine the manner in which this section is to be applied, in particular by defining the meaning of certain expressions. It may also prescribe other exceptions to the prohibitions under this section and other standards applicable to display screens.

2018, c. 7, s. 117.