Are you wondering if wearing headphones while driving in Canada is okay? We now live in a world of seemingly endless distractions, and nowhere are those distractions more dangerous than on our roads and highways.

While texting and driving have been illegal for quite some time now, distracted driving laws can still be murky and hard to understand fully. 

Using a cell phone while driving is an obvious distraction, but what about other devices? What about wearing headphones while driving, you may ask. Is it illegal to wear headphones while driving? 

Traffic accidents kill nearly 2,000 people in Canada every year and injure thousands more. Drinking and driving once dominated the public conversation about the safety of Canada’s roads. Still, in recent years, the issue of distracted driving has come to the forefront as more and more accidents occur due to cellphone use while behind the wheel. 

Canadian Automobile Association

Startlingly, despite knowing the dangers of distracted driving, nearly half of Canadian drivers admit to texting and driving, according to a poll conducted by the Canadian Automobile Association in 2020.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration points out that texting and driving and taking your eyes off the road for even five seconds can be extremely dangerous. For drivers going highway speeds, the agency likens it to driving the length of a “football field with your eyes closed.”  

But taking your eyes off the road is one thing, but what about your ears? Wearing headphones, earphones, or air pods while driving may not seem as dangerous as using your cellphone or programming your GPS navigation system, but hearing other drivers is essential for the safety of all road users.

Catching up on your favourite podcast on your commute may be relaxing, but using headphones. At the same time, driving means you’re not necessarily listening for the sirens of emergency vehicles and honking horns. 

State and Provincial Distracted Driving Laws

Distracted driving laws in Canada and the United States vary from province to province and state. In 2016, for example, the state of Colorado amended its traffic safety regulations to prohibit the use of earphones while driving expressly.

The province of Alberta doesn’t prohibit drivers from using earphones when connected to a cell phone, for instance, but prohibits hand-held cell phone use.

Drivers in Alberta are also not allowed to text or email, read printed materials like magazines and newspapers, or do any personal grooming activities, including brushing and flossing teeth, combing or brushing hair, or cutting fingernails.

Encourages defensive driving

In BC, which prohibited cellphone use while driving back in 2010, no specific traffic law still prohibits wearing headphones or earphones while behind the wheel.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police, however, warn that wearing headphones is not “a wise practice” and encourages defensive driving free of visual and auditory distractions. The police force also points out that using a headset with a hands-free phone is allowed, but only if one ear is left uncovered. 

The Insurance Corporation of British Columbia, the province’s public insurer, also warns drivers against all forms of distractions, especially the use of cell phones, even if you’re stopped at a red light. The company states on its website that drivers are five times more likely to get into an accident using a hand-held electronic device. 

British Columbia also has some of the country’s stiffest fines and penalties for distracted driving. Being caught using an electronic device while driving carries a $368 fine and “penalty points” against your driver’s licence.

If you amass enough penalty points, you can suspend your licence and face massive increases in your insurance premiums under ICBC’s “Driver Penalty Point Premium.” 

Headphones while driving

Under British Columbia’s graduated licensing regime, Novice drivers have to start over their novice period of two years if they get distracted driving infractions. If you get two or more distracted driving tickets within three years, penalties also increase to $2000 while drastically affecting an offender’s insurance premiums. 

In one particularly egregious case of distracted driving in B.C., the R.C.M.P. caught a woman behind the wheel who was eating a bowl of noodles with chopsticks. In finding the woman guilty of a driving infraction, the judge, in that case, found that the woman’s “driving departed from that of an accustomed and sober reasonable person.”  

However, the province of Saskatchewan fines drivers even more than B.C. for distracted driving infractions. First offences carry a $580 fine and “demerit points” against your licence, which jumps to $1400 and a seven-day vehicle impoundment for the second and increases to $2,100 for a third offence.

Wearing earphones or headphones

The province doesn’t expressly prohibit wearing earphones or headphones while driving. However, drivers can still be penalized for driving without “due care,” including any “behaviour that takes your attention away from driving.” In other words, you can get a ticket for smoking or adjusting the radio while driving in Saskatchewan, subject to the discretion of the police. 

In Ontario, distracted driving laws don’t prohibit wearing headphones while behind the wheel, but cell phone use while driving is against the law, as in Alberta and B.C. The province also allows hands-free device use with an earpiece.

Other potentially distracting activities like personal grooming, smoking, or eating and drinking aren’t covered by Ontario’s distracted driving laws. However, the provincial government warns that people can still be charged with careless or dangerous driving if they’re in an accident. Traffic fatalities caused by distracted driving, according to the Ontario government, have doubled since the year 2000. 

Is it illegal to wear headphones or earphones while driving?

Distracted driving laws vary between jurisdictions, but they’re rather uniform in their form, substance, and intent. While some states and provinces expressly prohibit wearing headphones while driving, others allow certain behaviours to be covered under more general statutes, such as driving without due care and attention laws. 

Police in Canada also have considerable discretion when handing out traffic tickets. That means that even if you’re doing something behind the wheel that isn’t explicitly illegal under distracted driving regulations, you can still be fined and penalized for dangerous actions on the road.

So, with that in mind, it’s safe to say that keeping your eyes (and ears) on the road and your hands on the wheel are your best bet to avoid accidents and hefty fines.