Distracted driving tickets are mounting. Being unable to stay away from our phone is to blame, officials say
CBC
As a media relations officer with Burnaby RCMP, Cpl. Mike Kalanj hears many stories from fellow officers, but admits some of the most outrageous come from those handing out tickets for drivers handling cellphones.
One involves an officer standing at an intersection who watched and then ticketed a driver stopped at a red light, scrolling through pictures of cats on their mobile phone.
"The driver just admitted he was bored in traffic and thought he would look through pictures of cats," said Kalanj. "It cost him presumably $368."
Despite stiff penalties, education campaigns and crashes, officials in B.C. continue to be dumbfounded by the seemingly habituated practice of using a cellphone while driving.
This spring, some forces conducted enforcement blitzes targeting people illegally using their phones while driving.
"A lot of people think, 'I'm a really good driver and I can get away with it' ... and our statistics in motor vehicle incidents prove otherwise," said Kalanj.
In 2010 British Columbia put strict laws in place to prevent the use of hand-held cellphones, portable electronic devices and text messaging while driving.
Under the Motor Vehicle Act, only hands-free or one-touch use of electronic devices is allowed while driving, which includes sitting at traffic lights. Fully licensed drivers must mount their device or place it in a way so they won't handle it or be distracted by it.
Since 2010, enforcement tickets, now worth $368 plus additional premiums for vehicle insurance, continue to pile up.
Tickets issued over the course of the pandemic did drop, most likely because of fewer people driving, but as commuting and vehicle use returns to pre-pandemic levels, infractions again appear to be on the rise.
For example in Burnaby, the RCMP issued 287 tickets for distracted driving from January to March of this year, compared to 215 for the same time period in 2021 and 144 for the same time period in 2020.
"It's easy to find people on their phones almost anywhere in the city," said Kalanj. "Lots of people are doing it."
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