Quebec Transport Minister Julie Boulet tabled new legislation Wednesday aimed at cracking down on dangerous drivers, including a ban on cellphone use while behind the wheel.

Drivers caught talking on their phones would be given three demerit points and fined between $80 to $100, although so-called "hands free" devices would still be allowed.

If the bill is passed by the National Assembly, it would make Quebec the second province in Canada to institute such a ban, following Newfoundland and Labrador.

Other measures in the bill include:

• Lowering the blood-alcohol limit from 0.08 per cent to 0.05 per cent;
• Photo radar and red-light cameras in 15 easily identifiable zones, with municipalities given the power to add more;
• Mandatory driving lessons for all new drivers;
• Banning hand-held cellphone use while driving; and,
• Installing devices to prevent truckers from travelling more than 105 kilometres per hour.

If drivers are caught with a blood-alcohol level above 0.05 per cent, their license would automatically be suspended for 24 hours. Further penalties for drunk-driving would also be increased significantly.

The proposed legislation is based on a study by the province's road-safety task force, chaired by Jean-Marie De Koninck.

He told CTV Montreal that he would like even further steps taken against intoxicated drivers.

"We want Transport Canada to implement, as soon as possible and in an all new vehicles, an alcohol ignition interlock device," he said. "So no cars would be in motion if you have an impaired driver at the wheel."

Boulet discussed several details of the legislation this past weekend, and even came under fire late Tuesday when opposition parties accused her of being in contempt for revealing too many details before the bill was tabled.

Public pressure over the death of Quebec toddler Bianca Leduc likely fast-tracked the legislation.

Hundreds in Ile Perrot, Que., took to the streets over the weekend in a march to remember the three-year-old girl who died earlier this month, when an out-of-control car struck her as she played in the yard of her babysitter's home.

Cellphone ban

Newfoundland and Labrador is the only province in Canada to have successfully banned the use of cellphones in vehicles, passing legislation in 2003. Fines range from $45 to $180.

Road safety expert Etienne Blais told CTV Montreal that the added distraction leads to an increase in collision risk.

"You are less likely to keep distance between you and the other vehicle and you are less likely to stay in the middle of the line," Blais said

Records at the Quebec coroner's office state that between 2000 and 2005 there were 20 fatal crashes on the province's roads linked to mobile phone use.

"It's quite the same as driving while intoxicated by alcohol or even speeding," Blais told CTV Montreal.

Blais said driving while on the phone poses more risk than talking to a passenger because a passenger will lower their voice or speak slower depending on the level of distraction for the driver.

He also said there is little difference in distraction between hand-held and hand-free devices.

Cellphone use while driving is on the rise according to an August 2007 survey conducted by the Canadian Traffic Injury Research Foundation.

• 37 per cent of drivers admitted to using their cellphones while behind the wheel in 2007.
• In 2001, only 20.5 per cent of Canadian drivers admitted to using their phones while on the road.

With reports from CTV Montreal's John Grant and Tania Krywiak