It turns out the best place to catch up on your reading is not behind the wheel — but the driver seen doing just that in a recent video clearly never got the memo.
“That is nuts,” said ICBC Road Safety program manager Mark Milner.
Police have been campaigning hard to warn people against distracted driving, but recent examples show the message isn’t getting through. Just this week, New Westminster Police tweeted this photo of a driver consuming two ice-cream cones behind the wheel.
“There isn’t a law specific to them, the way that there is for electronic devices,” Milner said. “However, they are covered under the laws covering driving without due care and attention.”
In 2015, 2,900 tickets were issued in B.C. for driving without due care. A further 2,600 tickets were handed out for driving without consideration.
“Stand here, and you’ll probably see 90 per cent of the people distracted,” a pedestrian in North Vancouver said.
Anyone caught driving while using an electronic device can be fined $368 and get four points off their record, for a minimum cost of $543.
“Thirty-eight per cent of people say they will use the phone in at least one of their next 10 trips, but 96 per cent say they know it’s wrong,” Milner said. “So there is a bit of a disconnect.”