Getting caught reaching for that cell phone will soon cost B.C. drivers even more.
The government this week announced higher fines and more penalty points in an effort to eliminate distracted driving, a leading factor in many deaths on B.C. roads.
The new fines, which start June 1, begin at $368 for a first offence, which is up $200 from the current fine of $167. The fines for a first-time offence also include a $175 ICBC driver penalty point premium for a total of $543 in financial penalties for a first-time offender.
Fines will increase for repeat offenders. A second offence within 12 months will net a total of $888 in fines - the $368 base fine plus a $520 penalty point premium.
The government has also raised distracted driving to the threshold for high-risk driving offences,
putting it on the same level as excessive speeding and driving without due care and attention.
Repeat offenders will have their driving record automatically reviewed, which could result in a driving prohibition ranging from three to 12 months, and repeat offences could mean longer prohibitions. Drivers in the Graduated Licensing Program face intervention after a first offence and a possible driving prohibition of up to six months. Delta Police Chief Neil Dubord, who is also chair of the B.C. Association of Chiefs of Police traffic safety committee, said this is one of two priorities the committee is working on with the province.
"I definitely think it will help," he said of the new, higher fines, adding that it seems like a large number of drivers still aren't getting the message that distracted driving is dangerous.
"It still is the number deaths, on our roads."
"Distracted driving, like drinking and driving, is entirely avoidable, yet too often has devastating consequences," Mike Morris, B.C.'s Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General, said this week. "Since 2010, when we introduced tough, immediate sanctions for drinking and driving, we've seen a dramatic decrease in alcohol-related traffic fatalities."
The latest statistics, from 2014, show 66 deaths and 630 serious injuries in crashes where distracted and inattentive driving was a contributing factor.
Over the past three years, approximately 50,000 distracted driving tickets have been issued annually. Here in Delta, officers have issued a total of 3,610 distracted driving tickets since the law was established in 2011.
So far in 2016, officers have already issued 249 tickets to distracted drivers.
