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More than 100 North Shore drivers learned the hard way Tuesday that it doesn’t matter if your boss is calling, you were “checking the time” or plugging it in, if you use a cellphone while driving, you could face a nasty fine.
North Vancouver RCMP, West Vancouver Police and the RCMP’s highway patrol handed out 111 tickets in eight hours Tuesday for distracted driving, netting more than $40,000 in fines.
Of the tickets handed out, 85 were for using a cellphone while behind the wheel.
Police started the distracted driving blitz in the area of Main Street and Mountain Highway in North Vancouver around 9 a.m. and ended near the intersection of Capilano Road and Marine Drive during the afternoon rush hour.
For the most part, officers just walked along the sidewalk and in some cases between lanes of stop-and-go traffic to easily spot drivers on their cell phones, said Const. Mansoor Sahak, spokesperson for the North Vancouver RCMP.
In some cases, people don’t know the laws around cellphone use, said Sahak, while in others “people know they’re not supposed to be on their phone.”
A fine for a first distracted driving ticket starts at $368 plus four penalty points on your driver’s licence and goes up from there for subsequent infractions.
Some drivers cried foul on social media at the decision to target areas where traffic is essentially stopped during rush hour. Others praised the distracted driving blitz, saying too many drivers are watching their screens instead of the road.
Sahak said police targeted areas that are high-crash locations.
According to ICBC, there were 254 crashes involving distracted driving on the North Shore in 2021 (the last year for which statistics were available). That’s down from the 447 distracted driving crashes reported five years previously in 2017. Over that five-year period there were 1,537 crashes in which distracted driving was a contributing factor.
Many drivers are surprised to learn that having your phone in our cupholder or on the seat beside you won’t get you out of a ticket.
“Anytime you’re in care and control of a vehicle, you can’t be using a cellphone,” said Sahak.
The only exceptions are when a phone is properly mounted in the vehicle, not obscuring your vision, and is being operated by voice commands.
B.C.’s laws banning cellphone use while driving came into effect in 2010 and have been upheld in court.
B.C.’s highest court rejected the appeal of a man who was ticketed after being spotted looking down at a phone while stopped at a red light in Vancouver.
A North Vancouver man also lost an appeal of a ticket he got for plugging in his cell phone charger while stopped at a North Vancouver intersection in 2015.
To avoid getting a distracted driving ticket:
- Ignore calls and texts while driving. Keep your phone out of sight and out of reach when behind the wheel.
- Turn on automatic “Do not disturb while driving” features or designate a passenger to answer calls or texts.
- Don’t use your cell phone at a red light or while stopped in traffic, including plugging it in.
- A securely mounted phone can be used in hands-free mode only.
- Program your navigation system before starting out and then only use it while the phone is mounted, in hands-free mode.
- Drivers with an N or an L can’t use any electronic device while driving, including in hands-free mode.
