Nova Scotia and Quebec have become the latest provinces in Canada to ban drivers from using hand-held cellphones.

The new laws, which came into effect on Tuesday in both provinces, will still allow drivers to use hands-free devices.

But the two provinces part paths when it comes to grace periods for drivers caught on the road with handheld phones, which will now be illegal to use when behind the wheel.

In Quebec, police will give lawbreakers a three-month grace period. Instead of a fine, police will hand out warnings. Not so in Nova Scotia, where the Mounties say the full impact of the law begins on April 1.

Penalized drivers will also face heftier fines in Nova Scotia, where police will hand out $165 tickets for a first offence. Second and third offences will cost gabbing drivers $220 and $335 respectively. In Quebec, fines will be about $100.

Driver reactions

One Quebec resident says he's paying for a new hands-free phone now so he won't have to pay fines later.

"Whether or not it makes a difference is one thing ... but when it comes down to it, I don't want to get a ticket for $100 and lose demerit points on my licence," he said.

Another motorist was on his cellphone and reacted with surprise when CTV Montreal informed him of the phone ban.

"Really?" he asked, before snapping his phone shut.

In Nova Scotia, where the government also banned smoking in cars with minors in them, some people wondering if the government had gone too far. But others thought the moves were necessary.

"Common sense isn't used a lot these days," Linda Norman said. "Sometimes the government has to step in and make people do what they should be doing."

Experts say strict laws against handheld cellphone use while driving are necessary to save lives. Studies suggest that using a cellphone while driving can be as dangerous as drinking and driving.

"Distracted drivers aren't just a danger to themselves, but to other people on the road," says the University of Toronto's Dr. Don Redelmeier.

Redelmeier studied the cellphone records of nearly 700 Toronto drivers who had been in car crashes and found that they were four times more likely to get into an accident while on their phones.

Experts say that even using a hands-free cellphone has its dangers, but they note that Quebec and Nova Scotia have moved in the right direction.

"Hands-free is just as dangerous. (But) by forbidding the hand-held it does send a signal that there is a problem with the cellphone, there's a problem with concentration. With education, hopefully no one will use a cell phone when they drive," road safety advocate Jean-Marie De Koninck told CTV Montreal.

With their new laws, Nova Scotia and Quebec join Newfoundland and Labrador as the only jurisdictions in Canada to ban handheld devices while behind the wheel.

With files from CTV Montreal and CTV Atlantic