Driving and texting, e-mailing or talking on a handheld phone is about to get more expensive in Ontario today.
Currently, fines range from C$60 to C$500, and will increase now to a range of between C$300 to C$1,000 as well as a loss of three demerit points.
Ontario outlawed the use of handheld electronic devices while driving in 2009, except for 911 emergency calls.
Distracted driving is now becoming the number one killer on the roads, causing even more deaths than impaired driving or speed-related collisions, according to the Ontario Provincial Police.
Over a third of licensed Ontario students in Grades 10 to 12, from 16 to 18 years-old, admitted to having texted while driving at least once in the previous year according to a 2014 survey by the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health foundation.
The Ontario government says distracted drivers are four times more likely to be involved in a crash.
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