Dear Editor:
Re: BRB.Cops., Oct. 16 Viewpoint
I was appalled by your editorial for a variety of reasons, including for its class discrimination and making light of a serious issue (as per your headline).
More important is your attempt to downplay the need and justification for heavier penalties for the illegal use of electronic devices while driving.
You say that the fine should be big enough to deter the behaviour but not so big as to be ruinous. Experience shows that it is not only until you have the threat of the latter, or close to it, that you will achieve the former. And clearly, the present penalties are not doing this – not by a long shot.
It is not you but drivers who should worry about the impact of a heavy fine. If one cannot afford to pay the fine for an offence, you should not commit it – pure and simple.
To say that a (single) fine of $1,000 could sink a driver is ridiculous given the total cost of running a vehicle, not to mention owning and operating a hand-held device.
And if this could be a problem for someone, that person clearly cannot afford and should give up owning (a vehicle), rather than it being used as an excuse to be lenient with irresponsible drivers.
Your claim that Finland has achieved the deterrent effect with a sliding scale of fines based on income is incorrect. The system applies to speeding rather than distracted driving.
And as recently as 2011 the country introduced a new law for the suspension of driving licences for the illegal use of hand-held devices – equal for everyone.
Your statement that seeing rich people using cellphones in their fancy cars is more annoying does not merit a response, except to say that it hardly matters to accident victims or their loved ones whether a person is injured/killed by an expensive or cheap vehicle.
What really matters is that the use of hand-held devices in vehicles is now the most prevalent cause of accidents. It is a practice that is unnecessary and can easily be stopped voluntarily. Thus, we should encourage whatever steps are necessary to counter this newest threat to public safety.
Paul Brown
North Vancouver
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