“B.C., we have a problem with using our phones while driving; we also have a long way to go towards using seatbelts and car seats properly.”
That’s the message from BC Highway Patrol after it found more evidence of these road safety problems during the March Distracted Drivers and Occupant Restraint Campaign.
“Across the province in March, BC Highway Patrol wrote almost 2,800 tickets for distracted driving,” says Superintendent Mike Coyle with BC Highway Patrol. “We also wrote 873 tickets for people who were not wearing seatbelts, including 87 tickets to parents whose children were not properly secured.”
In Nelson, police used the second floor of a parking garage to watch for distracted drivers. In Invermere, a BC Highway Patrol body-worn camera recorded a passenger trying to put on her seatbelt after being stopped. Another driver who was driving while on her cell phone was also found to be under the influence of alcohol and received a driving suspension.
Some of the campaign numbers include:
* Central / Okanagan Region: 1,036 tickets for using an electronic device while driving and 300 seatbelt infractions;
* Kootenay Region: 149 tickets for using an electronic device and 111 seatbelt infractions;
* Northern Region: 153 tickets for using an electronic device while driving and 61 seatbelt infractions;
* South Coast / Lower Mainland Region: 603 tickets for using an electronic device and 145 seatbelt / occupant restraint tickets, including 37 for children who were improperly secured;
* Vancouver Island Region: 276 tickets for using an electronic device while driving and 61 seatbelt infractions.
“Many of these distracted driving tickets were written for people using the highway system- not merely those stopped at intersections,” says Coyle. “These numbers prove two things: One, we need to do better. Two, everyone in BC is paying the consequences of collisions that come from high-risk driving behaviours.”
Tickets for not wearing a seatbelt range from $109 for a child who is improperly restrained to $167 for an adult who fails to wear a seatbelt. A ticket for using an electronic device while driving carries a $368 fine.
