Toronto police have released figures showing that thousands are still refusing to put down their phones while driving.
The statistics come as OPP and Toronto police officers step up efforts to stop motorists from texting, talking and eating while behind the wheel.
Toronto police traffic sergeant Tim Burrows says that since the beginning of the year, 8,412 drivers in the city have been fined for chatting on their cellphones while driving.
Meanwhile, in that same time period, 158 have been caught texting and 64 using a hand-held device such as an MP3 player or a GPS unit, while behind the wheel.
"One of the mentalities we are trying to break is that talking or texting on the phone is more important than road safety," Burrows told Toronto.ctv.ca "It's not just their lives, it's everyone out there."
Burrows said he was told one story of an officer being told to ‘hold on' while a driver finished her cellphone conversation after being pulled over during a speed enforcement stop.
He added that drivers who text while driving are 23 times more likely to be involved in a collision than those who are not distracted.
In all 35 people died and more than 1,000 people were injured because they weren't paying attention while driving last year, the OPP says.
Tickets for distracted driving can range up to $155.
Meanwhile a careless driving charge ranges in cost from $400 to $2,000, a licence suspension or a sentence of up to six months.
The OPP campaign, which runs from Monday to Sunday and takes place in support of Canada Road Safety Week, is the first of four campaigns against distracted driving in the next year.
With files from The Canadian Press
