Drivers who use cellphones will soon face tougher penalties in British Columbia after the government announced Monday those caught breaking the rule will face escalating fines and the possibility of a driving prohibition for repeat offenders, beginning June 1.
The issue came to a head recently in Richmond after the RCMP published the driving record of a woman who had been caught by police using a phone while driving 14 times since 2011.
The current penalty of $167 for distracted driving will increase to $543 for a first offence, $888 for a second offence within a year and $1,600 for a third offence. Drivers caught using cellphones will also see demerit points on their licence increase from three to four points.
As well, the Superintendent of Motor Vehicles will automatically review a driver’s licence after two tickets and, at his discretion, can impose a driving ban of up to 12 months.
“These tough new sanctions reflect what our public consultation process indicated — 90 per cent wanted higher fines. It targets distracted drivers where it hurts through their wallets,” said Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General Mike Morris.
He added every year more than 60 drivers are killed by distracted drivers on B.C. roads and about 330 are seriously injured. He added if those statistics don’t come down dramatically after a few years, the government would be willing to revisit the sanctions to ensure they are tough enough.
“We want to make distracted driving a thing of the past and we want to change the way people think about distracted driving,” he said. “One death on B.C. roads is too many.”
Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure Todd Stone compared the time a driver looks down to check a text message to driving the length of a football field blind.
“That’s what you are doing when you look away,” said Stone. “Leave your phone alone. There’s no call or text worth risking your life and those around you.”
Between 2010 and 2014 police officers throughout B.C. issued more than 42,000 tickets to distracted drivers. He said it was clear by the increasing numbers of distracted drivers the current penalties were not tough enough.
“Police across the province welcome these new penalties,” he said. “The day will come when distracted driving is as socially unacceptable as drinking and driving.”
Asked whether police would follow the lead of proposed legislation in New York which could allow police officers to use a textalyzer — the digital equivalent of the Breathalyzer — that allows police to tap into the operating system of a cellphone to see if it was used recently, Sylven would only say “I’m sure police officers are looking at every tool they can use.”
NDP provincial public safety critic Mike Farnworth said the increased penalties were significant but he would have liked to seen drivers lose their licence automatically if they are ticketed three times in one year.
“There should be no ‘may’ about it. There should be no equivocation,” he said, giving the example of the Richmond woman.
“These are pretty significant increases and I hope that they have the desired effect,” said Farnworth.
“They’re very much in line with what we’ve been calling for since the government made its first announcement they were going to look at this issue over a year ago. I would have liked to see them in place over a year ago, but better late than never. I think people are going to have to pay attention — $500 is going to hit you in the pocketbook and it’s going to hurt.”
Asked whether B.C. should be helping police find new tools, such as the textalyzer, to help prove people were using their phone Farnworth said he believes the current system of police pulling over drivers they see on their phones is effective.
“For right now, given the number of tickets handed out, I think people will realize very quickly the police are serious about this,” he said.
The founder of Drop it and Drive, Karen Bowman, said she welcomed the stricter measures that exceeded the group’s request to have a minimum $500 penalty for distracted drivers.
Bowman, a two-time crash survivor, said she started the organization after her eight-year-old daughter was injured as a result of a distracted driver.
With file from Rob Shaw
