Authorities have charged a Hamilton resident after police say he was watching a movie on an iPad while driving on Highway 401 in southwestern Ontario.
Officers captured footage of a motorist who appeared to be watching a movie while driving in Oxford County, near Ingersoll, the Ontario Provincial Police’s West Region detachment said in a March 31 social media post.
The OPP shared images taken by their officers that showed an iPad propped up on the dashboard of a vehicle that was clocked driving 130 kilometres per hour on the busy highway. Police said the vehicle almost caused a crash.
“Really? WOW! Putting other innocent motorists at risk watching a movie... Don’t EVER be this driver!” the OPP wrote in its post. “STAY FOCUSED on the road, NOT a screen!”
Police said officers were alerted to the presence of the driver after receiving a call from a “good samaritan.”
A 38-year-old Hamilton man has been charged in connection with the incident. Police did not list the specific charges the man is facing or offer any other details about the incident.
Earlier in the day, officers from South Bruce OPP stopped a vehicle outside of Walkerton for driving 111 km/h in a posted 50 km/h zone.
“A reminder that stunt driving results in a court date, a 14 day vehicle impound and a 30 day licence suspension,” police said in a separate post. “Time to slow down!”
Motorists on Ontario roads can face stunt driving charges if they exceed the speed limit by 40 km/h or more when the speed limit is less than 80 km/h or by driving 50 km/h or more when the speed limit is above 80. It also automatically kicks in for anyone driving 150 km/h or more.
Stunt driving charges also be applied to someone driving “without due care and attention” or in “a manner that may endanger any person.”
A stunt driving charge leads to an immediate 30-day licence suspension and a 14-day vehicle impoundment. Drivers could also face fines ranging from $2,000 to $10,000, possible incarceration, and a required driver improvement course if convicted.
The province last year said it was working on legislation to implement tougher penalties for stunt driving convictions that would include licence suspensions.
Transportation Minister Prabmeet Sarkaria said a one-year suspension would accompany a first-time conviction, while a second time offender would have his or her licence revoked for three years. Those caught stunt driving for a third time would receive a lifetime suspension, reducible to 10 years under certain criteria, he said.
Ontario reported a substantial uptick in stunt driving charges in 2024, with a total of 13,843 charges, the highest in the last five years, according to analysis of provincial offence data. That’s up from the more than 12,000 immediate roadside licence suspensions that were issued for street racing or stunt driving in Ontario in 2023 and is an 11.8 percent increase from 2020 numbers.
