If you can’t see BC Highway Patrol officers walking right up to your stopped car, then there’s a good chance you’re distracted.
BC Highway Patrol officers proved this recently, when — even though the officers were wearing highlighter-yellow jackets — they were able to walk right up to stopped drivers and issue 13 tickets as part of a distracted driving operation in Richmond.
The education and enforcement exercise on March 11 was part of a joint operation with Richmond RCMP, ICBC, Metro Vancouver Transit Police, and the City of Richmond in support of Distracted Driving Month.
“As soon as a driver picks up an electronic device, they’re breaking the law,” says Cor. Michael McLaughlin with BC Highway Patrol. “Drivers who are using cell phones are completely unaware of the yellow jackets of BC Highway Patrol officers right beside their vehicle windows. It’s a good illustration of how distraction and tunnel-vision lead to bodily harm and death.”
Working at various locations throughout Richmond, BC Highway Patrol spoke to many people about the dangers of distracted driving. That wasn’t the only thing they were on the lookout for; during the exercise they also issued:
- 10 tickets for using an electronic device while driving ($368 fine);
- one ticket for failing to wear a seatbelt ($167 fine); and
- two miscellaneous violation tickets.
Distracted driving has become such a problem throughout B.C. that it is now considered to be at least as deadly as driving while impaired. Along with speeding and impaired driving, distracted driving is consistently one of the top three contributors to fatal crashes in B.C.
“We would be perfectly happy to stop writing any more distracted driving tickets,” says McLaughlin. “But as long as distracted driving is one of the leading causes of death on B.C. roads, we will continue to make distracted driving enforcement a priority.”
