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TORONTO - A Toronto Police officer was patrolling a city intersection for speeders one day last week when he spotted a driver talking on her cellphone.
So, he tapped on her window to issue a ticket.
Her response was telling.
"She said, 'Just hang on a sec, I'm on the phone,' " Const. Hugh Smith of the Toronto Police Traffic Services unit said.
The cop did more than just hang on -- he wrote her a ticket.
The woman was one of 1,499 people charged across the city during the first seven days of the new distracted-driver legislation.
Traffic Services Sgt. Tim Burrows said the Toronto numbers show an encouraging compliance rate, considering a recent week-long seatbelt blitz in the city netted 6,003 tickets despite seatbelt laws being on the books for decades.
"This legislation has seen a higher compliance rate in its first week than the seatbelt law has (in its history)," Burrows said.
Since Feb. 1, cops have been cracking down on motorists who talk on hand-held cellphones while driving, after allowing them a three-month grace period.
In addition to data from Toronto Police, the first stats pertaining to the law are trickling out of various police forces in the GTA.
Durham Regional Police laid 63 charges against drivers who broke the hands-free law during the first week, while York Regional Police laid 90 charges as of Monday.
While Durham cops "found compliancy with the new law very high," 60 charges were laid for holding or using a cellphone while not in a hands-free mode, plus three charges for holding or using an entertainment device while driving, Sgt. Nancy Van Rooy said in a release.
Peel Regional Police will release its numbers Thursday.
For drivers, the new law means that if they want to talk on their phones while driving, they can do so only with wireless devices or with an earpiece or headset.
Using your hands to dial is not allowed. Instead, use voice dialing.
Punching in addresses on GPS devices or playing with MP3 players is also forbidden. Making 911 calls is allowed.
Fines start at $155 and can reach $500.
Drivers at the Yorkdale mall said they haven't yet seen much of a difference from those they share the road with.
"I see it every day, vehicles just drifting over the lanes, and when I pass them it's drivers looking down, typing, or doing something on their cellphone, or they've got their head tilted, talking on their cellphone," bus driver Kevin Borges, 27, said. "The law is out there but it's not really affecting anyone."
Shawn Kavanagh, 34, was asked if he thinks the law has made a difference yet.
"No, I think most of them are still using (their cellphones) anyway," he said. "They just put it down when they see a cop coming."
BRETT.CLARKSON@SUNMEDIA.CA