Nearly 150 drivers were slapped with tickets during a month-long distracted driving blitz on the North Shore, according to Mounties.
Throughout the month of March, North Vancouver RCMP said it issued 146 tickets and six warnings for using an electronic device while driving.
The blitz was part of a province-wide enforcement cracking down on distracted drivers.
"Fatal and serious injury motor vehicle collisions due to distracted driving are completely preventable and it's the North Vancouver RCMP's main priority to keep the roads safe for all users," the detachment said in a news release Thursday.
Mounties said the majority of the enforcement was conducted at "high crash intersections" across North Vancouver and, in one instance, a single officer observed three different people driving while distracted at the same time.
"We still hear a lot of excuses from drivers about why they are using their phones. We most commonly see drivers checking their device when stopped at a red light. In those few seconds of distraction, a pedestrian could walk in front of your car, or another hazard could appear on the road that you may not be aware of," said Sgt. Denis Beaulieu. "The best practice is to keep your phone safely stored away for the duration of your journey to avoid the temptation of using it."
Data from the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia indicates that drivers are 3.6 times more likely to crash if they are using a phone.
According to ICBC, distracted driving is also responsible for more than 25 per cent of all car crash fatalities, and is the second leading cause of fatal collisions in the province — with an average of 77 deaths each year.
Beaulieu emphasized that distracted driving is not just related to the use of an electronic device—it can also involve personal grooming, eating or drinking, reading, unsecured pets, other passengers and route confusion.
"Doing any of these things while driving may cause your trip to end in tragedy," Beaulieu added.
Mounties said in many of the cases during this latest blitz, drivers were so distracted that they only noticed a police officer standing beside their vehicle after the officer knocked on their window.
