Distracted Driving Campaign Dials Up Plenty of Tickets
Prince George, B.C.- The distracted driving campaign in Prince George wrapped up at the end of February and there .html)
In fact, 212 tickets were issued.
RCMP enlisted the assistance of the Citizens on Patrol to help spot drivers who were violating the distracted driving laws.
“We have learned that people getting tickets for this violation are far more aggressive to officers than those who are getting a ticket for speeding or other motor vehicle act violations like non seatbelt use” says Corporal Craig Douglass, media liaison officer with the Prince George RCMP.
He says drivers ticketed for being on the phone while behind the wheel often argued with officers that the calls were justified, that they are perfectly able to drive and talk on the phone at the same time. “We are also seeing this kind of reaction from people you wouldn’t expect would react this way, like a mom who has three kids in the vehicle yelling at the officer that she was just calling her son so the call was necessary” says Cpl. Douglass. Corporal Douglass says there can be no excuse for being on the phone while driving, as a moment of distracted attention is all it takes to have a tragedy occur.
“If you need to take a call, pull over to a safe spot off the roadway and put the vehicle in park.” That, says Corporal Douglass is the only time it is safe to take a call when driving.
The fine is $167.00.
Comments
me!me!me!
The sense of entitlement we’ve created and continue to foster is absurd.
Or you get pulled over by a very ignorant cop who accuses you of talking on your cell even though I wasn’t. Told him I can prove it by showing my call history but still keeps barking at me about integrity ( which he proved he has none) he didn’t give me a ticket but kept barking at me, should have taken his badge number..
I don’t use my cell when driving.
PLEASE! Double or triple the fine. Money talks, BS walks.
The fine isn’t enough!
If that mom was drunk and driving what would of happened?
I hope she got more than the 167.00 fine!
Time toughen things up on the way to calling it an impaired charge!
Start taking the darn things away. Maybe that will wake a few up!
YEs. By the number of people i still see on the phone while driving the fine is deffinately not a deterent.
NoWay: Taking them away might just work! Seems people go frantic when they don’t have them with them, or if they lose them. Some people have a lot of private things on them that they wouldn’t want the police looking at.
Yeah, confiscate them for, oh say, 24 hours or so, then give them the ticket when they come to pick them up!
I am dumbfounded watching people rolling through intersections with the phone pressed to there ear. Take the phone away, tow the vehicle away, impound it for three days. Leave the driver standing on the side of the road because they certainly don’t deserve to be driving. Idiots is only name for them.
Its seems absurd you get a $167.00 fine for distracted driving, which could cost a life, yet you get a $350.00 fine for something so mundane as forgetting to renew your drivers licence. Do you think the fact that a common mistake that happens frequently is the reason for the big fine on the license issue and it gives them a big money stream.
After all we know about driving while talking on your cell phone, it never ceases to amaze me how many people do it anyway.
Has anyone ever seen actual stats of accidents caused by cell phones? They give the numbers from “distracted driving” and then lump cell phones into that as an example of distracted driving. An easy misdirection, but what is the actual number of accidents blamed on cell phones specifically?
Yes take away their phones and they pay the fine to pick them up. However there should not be a double standard on this issue. Many times I’ve seen the RCMP on phones while driving. While driving the highways, while driving through intersections. Are they not as distracted as any other driver doing the same thing?
“In fact, 212 tickets were issued”
———————————–
212 tickets? Was the campaign run for only one day?
Some companies have implemented a cell phone signal blocking bag. The cell phone has to be in the bag stored in the glove box. First offence is a week suspension without pay. Second offence is grounds for termination.
What did these people of entitlement do before cell-phones? It baffles my mind. On the underhand, I suppose distracted driving could also be reaching for your cup of Timmies, a napkin or lighting a cig. etc.
The police use phones and computers as part of their jobs. They are allowed to use them, how many cops are on the road, then how many use there phones constantly. None. They use these items in pursuit of criminal records etc. not to text about a grocery list, or to say hi to someone.
I have no problem with the cops using them, they have guns, should we all be allowed to carry guns as well? If you can do it I should be able to mentality doesn’t work in any situation so it shouldn’t here.
The fine should be $1000. And their phones taken away.
“We have learned that people getting tickets for this violation are far more aggressive.”
Tell me about it..This guy cut me off while he was talking on his phone so i caught up to him rolled down my window and threw my beer at him.. Some people i tell ya..!!
ha ha good one load up with rocks or something , no need to waste a good beer eh
Citizens on Patrol? Politically correct term for authorized, accepted and condoned vigilantes doing a policeman’s grunt work? Police state? Let’s enlist authoritarian power obsessed rat wannabes. No shortage of them. Citizens on Patrol can also do bylaw infraction spying. Maybe from their own porch.
The fines for these yahoos should be higher.
I see drivers using their phones in school zones daily and running the reds of the school buses.
Although I agree with the fines for people who find it a need to talk on their cell phones while driving I also think the same or worse is the driver with pets in their laps. This needs to stop.
Northman…LMAO…Good one
Definitely a good haul. Must have set up in some remote place. I walk to work and see people driving while talking on cell phones a lot!
I anm happy there are lots of tickets being writen…but I think the $167.oo is pretty lame and little or no deterant…. like more fines, they have become a joke with the “I COULD CARE LESS” crowd..and thanks to them for the most part our ICBC rate keep climbing…
northman, thanks for my laugh of the day!!!
Interesting find here, just for alternate information.
New Study Suggests Cell Phone Use Does Not Cause Car Accidents
http://mwcapitol.wordpress.com/2013/08/08/new-study-suggests-cell-phone-use-does-not-cause-car-accidents/
I really like the “taking the phone away” comments… use a roll of quarters for a pay phone if you can find one
P Val…I hardly think your level of distraction is based on the context of your conversation or your profession. Your justification and comparison has NO Merritt.
…merit. Merrit is a ‘burg down south. Just so ya know.
Drove from foothills to Saveon. seen 3 ppl talking on there phones.
Is that near Savona ?
Comments for this article are closed.