Even the most novice parent quickly realizes that behaviour won’t change until consequences provide a sufficient deterrent, a basic premise we’re slowly embracing with drivers who behave badly.
Although we’ve made significant strides in curbing impaired driving over the years, I have long been of the opinion that it doesn’t get punished to the extent it should because, despite its grave nature, it’s a crime any of us could potentially commit. Most of us are unlikely to walk into a convenience store brandishing a gun, but get behind the wheel after a few too many at the pub? Well, that could happen to anyone. Or almost anyone.
We talk a good game when it comes to drunk driving and expend all kinds of resources, police and otherwise, yet it seems to me we could forego much of that time and money by simply making the consequences so severe it wouldn’t even cross your mind to drive should you have imbibed.
Now that distracted driving has surpassed impaired driving as a cause of traffic fatalities in this province, we’re beginning to take action on this new scourge on our roads, but because it’s another everyman’s kind of crime, the punishment is taking its time to catch up to the reckless behaviour.
Despite crashes and insurance rates both increasing at alarming rates, the province only upped the fine for distracted driving last year from $167 to $368. Over 40,000 people were pulled over for distracted driving in B.C. in 2016 so clearly many viewed the threat of a fine as a risk they were willing to take.
The new NDP government is now giving those morons something more to think about by hitting repeat offenders in the wallet with Attorney General David Eby announcing last week that two distracted driving tickets within a three-year period could cost as much as $2,000 starting early next year.
That’s certainly a decent-sized step in the right direction but will it be enough to dramatically curb a behaviour that’s responsible for some 80 deaths in B.C. every year? I guess we can only wait and see what impact the new rules will have, but I’m not sure even they will be sufficient. We can continue to have all the awareness campaigns and enforcement blitzes we want, but if we want it to stop, we’ve got to get tougher.
