B.C. introduced tougher distracted driving penalties last month, but police say drivers still aren’t getting the message.
The Capital Regional District’s Integrated Road Safety Unit issued approximately 250 violation tickets for using an electronic device in June.
“I was certainly disappointed to find that with the increase in the fine, the number of tickets we issued did not drop,” Const. Andy Dunstan said. “You would think that people would start to realize that $368 is a sizable chunk of change and in accordance with that, they should change their behaviour.”
Police say drivers need to realize that even if they’re at a stoplight, they’re still driving.
According to officers, the focus has gone away from driving and onto the electronic device and that behaviour needs to change.
“I think part of the problem is now that people have grown up with cellphones and the generation is now moved into the habit of driving, so the cellphone came before the driving, it’s a difficult thing to get over,” Dunstan told CTV News.
Distracted driving tickets doubled to $368 on June 1. Drivers who are caught in the act will also face an additional $175 for four penalty points – bumping the total to $543 for a first offence.
IRSU says there is no limit as to how many tickets a driver can get, but on accumulation of penalty points, their driving privileges will be reviewed.
“There’s no limit. You can win as many of these tickets as you wish. If we see an offence, we will write the ticket,” Dunstan added.
IRSU said one driver they stopped last week had seven previous cellphone tickets on their driving record.
“Clearly people are not getting the message,” Dunstan said. “There are persistent offenders out there and there are certainly people whose driving privileges need to be reviewed.”
