A local traffic ticket defender is urging drivers to keep their phones out of their hands, as police in Windsor and LaSalle put renewed attention on distracted driving. Windsor police said Wednesday its Traffic Enforcement Unit has issued 408 distracted driving tickets so far in 2026 — a 91 per cent increase from the 214 issued during the same period last year. One day later, LaSalle police revealed six enforcement actions were taken in less than two hours during a targeted distracted driving initiative last week. Walter Martin, owner of Off The Hook Paralegal, has been defending these types of charges for years. “I did a lot of trials on these in the very beginning. I was more successful at the beginning than I am — than anybody is now — simply because the officers have gotten better at testifying,” Martin said. He said officers have also become more thorough with their notetaking, making many cases difficult to successfully challenge. Even when Martin is able to help a client, he said the goal is sometimes to minimize the consequences rather than have the charge thrown out altogether. His advice to drivers is to make use of technology already available in many vehicles. “Most cars are equipped with Bluetooth right from the factory. If yours is not, then spend the $20, $30 to get a Bluetooth [device],” Martin said. “There is no reason to ever touch your phone.” LaSalle police Const. Chris Williams said some motorists apparently become so absorbed in their devices that officers do not need to be concealed to spot the violation. Williams told CTV News there have been cases where someone using a phone failed to notice a fully marked police cruiser travelling alongside them. Once stopped, Williams said officers tend to hear familiar explanations. “The biggest excuse right now is that, ‘Oh, they just picked it up for a second,’ or they just got a call or a quick message that they needed to check,” he said. Sydney West said she has witnessed people holding phones around steering-wheel height while riding in other vehicles. “I’ve been in cars with people who have done that. And I’m like, ‘Are you not afraid of getting pulled over?’” West said. She said voice-to-text and having messages read aloud offer an alternative. “I’m not risking getting a ticket or anything like that,” West said. William Maltais said the challenge comes from how deeply phones have become integrated into everyday life. “Phones are just such a part of our lives now that everyone has to be tempted because your phone is going off, whether it’s Instagram, Snapchat, text, email,” Maltais said. “People expect you to answer right away now, which I hate. And so of course you’re tempted.” The recent enforcement messaging is also reaching drivers such as Tara Davidovic, who said she has been seeing the warnings across her social media feeds. “I definitely do see all their posts on Facebook about it and Instagram,” Davidovic said. She added the reminders make her more conscious of her actions behind the wheel. Under Ontario’s distracted driving rules, being temporarily stopped does not give motorists permission to use a hand-held device. LaSalle police said the restriction continues at red lights and stop signs. For a fully licensed driver, police say a first conviction carries a $615 set fine, three demerit points and a three-day licence suspension. A second conviction within five years carries a seven-day suspension, while a third or subsequent conviction within five years carries a 30-day suspension. Fines and demerit points also increase for repeat offences. Police also warn that mounting a phone does not make everything displayed on the device legal to view while driving. “There are cases where officers are observing mounted cell phones on a screen or mounted to the windshield, and there’s a video playing on the screen, and that counts as well,” Williams said.
