Harsher penalties for distracted driving in effect

ICBC is rolling out harsher penalties for drivers caught talking on their phones or texting while behind the wheel.
Effective Monday, October 20th, The Corporation says penalty points will be increased from zero to three demerits and if you exceed that, your premium rates increase $175.

This new penalty, also covers things like watching a DVD, programming a GPS, and operating hand-held audio players, is being combined with the $167 fine already in place for talking on mobile phones.

Justice Minister Suzanne Anton hopes people get the message that distracted driving is dangerous.

“Drivers need to get used to the idea that you can not be talking on your handheld device, it’s dangerous to you and everyone around you,” she says.

Road Safety Manager Diana Pozer with ICBC explains just how distracted driving affects other motorists on the road.

“When you’re distracted, you react slower,” she says. “Most rear-end crashes resulting in injuries are caused by distracted drivers and you’re four times more likely to crash if you’re on your phone while driving.”

Pozer says distracted driving has shot up in seriousness in recent years, “It’s now the second leading cause of car crash fatalities, resulting in 88 deaths per-year in the province.”

ICBC says on average 15 people are killed in distracted-driving-related crashes in the North Central region each year.

“It can wait,” Pozer says. “No call or text is so important it’s worth risking your life. So let the calls go to voice mail and ignore your text messages while you’re driving.”

(Photo courtesy ICBC)