Ticketed For Checking Time On Cellphone
I got ticketed earlier today on my way to an appointment to get my haircut.
I was borrowing my parent's vehicle as mine is having heating problems at the moment. They normally set their clock a few minutes ahead of time so I wanted to make sure that I wasn't in fact late for my appointment, and by habit checked my phone for what must've been no more then 1-2 seconds.
This was as I was pulling into the parking lot of the hair salon. As soon as I pulled in, the cop had his lights flashing behind me, and I pulled into one of the empty spaces. He said that I was 'on my phone' so I said that I was checking the time. He then said 'it looked like you were talking', and I definitely was not, but I realized that I had been singing to the radio -which I told him. So he seemed to be under the impression that I was talking on speakerphone, which it definitely could have looked like and I felt like he thought I was lying to him.
He ticketed me for $155.00 and said I was free to challenge it.
I am considering challenging it, however I'm trying to find the definitive laws/loopholes around hand-held devices in Ontario. I have a spotless now 8 year record (age 16-23) record which is why I'm annoyed over something as simple as checking the correct time.
From what I see, actions such as talking, texting, checking email, surfing the web, maps, GPS, etc. are the ones that are banned. However I've also heard that by simply picking up a cellphone while at the wheel will get you the fine depending on whether you hit buttons or not, etc. I'm finding various opinions on the net...
What are my chances to getting the offense dropped in court?