10/06/2009 The Ministry of Transportation in Ontario, Canada announced on September 30 that Bill 118 concerning distracted driving will take effect on October 26, 2009. According to Radio Amateurs of Canada (RAC) Vice President for Public Relations Peter West, VE3HG, the new law makes it illegal for drivers to talk, text, type, dial or e-mail using handheld cell phones and other handheld communications and entertainment devices. Following a three-month period that begins October 26, the focus will be on educating drivers; police will start issuing tickets on February 1, 2010. “All two-way radios in all vehicles -- with the exception of emergency responding vehicles -- must be hands-free in three years time,” he posted on the RAC’s blog. “This news comes from the official government staffer who has been in communications with Radio Amateurs of Canada over the last year. At the end of the three-year exemption, all commercial, CB and Amateur Radio equipment used in moving vehicles by the vehicle operator must be hands-free in operation.”