
Driving while operating your cell is not only dangerous, it can lead to some pretty harsh fines. Photo by Lord-Jim
This February, police in B.C. are working to step up their efforts to combat distracted driving.
Last year on Feb. 1, a new law prohibiting the use of cell phones and other devices while driving was passed. On this, the one-year anniversary of the new legislation, police are feeling that the public has failed to receive their message.
This comes after an estimated 32,000 tickets were issued under the new legislation.
Police concerns have also been bolstered by statistics. The BCAA Traffic Safety Foundation estimated that distracted driving was a contributing factor in as many as 48 per cent of the fatalities on our roads in the Lower Mainland last year.
Penalties for distracted driving in the province do not currently exceed a ticket of $169 combined with three Driver Penalty Points or DPP. With the public paying so little attention to the new law, could harsher penalties be coming?
In the following podcast, I speak with officers Sgt. Peter Thiessen and Cpl. Jamie Chung of the RCMP about the legislation and distracted driving month.
The officers detail their concerns about distracted driving, as well as providing some insight into the creative methods police will be using to catch violators.
For anybody who drives on B.C. roads, it’s worth a listen.
Click here for the podcast