Whether your phone is sitting in your vehicle cupholder to charge, or whether you actually use it for anything other than taking a hands-free call, it could cost you at least $543 for a distracted driving charge.

That includes the $368 ticket, plus another $175 for the four ICBC penalty points that were added in 2017 when the B.C. NDP government declared distracted driving to be a B次元官网网址渉igh riskB次元官网网址� offence. Two distracted tickets in three years will cost you $2,000.

Asked about a Sense BC video that shows distracted driving incidents declining in B.C., Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth dismissed suggestions that the blitz of thousands of distracted driving tickets in recent years is a revenue stream for the struggling public insurer.

B次元官网网址淔irst off thatB次元官网网址檚 nonsense,B次元官网网址� Farnworth told reporters at the B.C. legislature this week. B次元官网网址淚 think most people in this province recognize that distracted driving is dangerous. Most people recognize in this province that excessive speeding is dangerous, and most people in this province support the measures to ensure that people drive more responsibly and safely.B次元官网网址�

Public Safety Minister rejects suggestion that ticket blitz is a revenue effort for

B次元官网网址� Tom Fletcher (@tomfletcherbc)

SenseBCB次元官网网址檚 video creator Chris Thompson emphasized the B.C. governmentB次元官网网址檚 focus on distracted driving being a bigger problem than impaired driving, as if distracted driving deaths and injuries were on the rise. The driver advocacy organization provided statistics to Black Press from public sources to show they are not, despite a huge increase in cell phone use since the iPhone was introduced in 2007.

introduced in 2007, cell use has soared since then, BC population also up. Huge fines to fix a huge problem? Where?

B次元官网网址� Tom Fletcher (@tomfletcherbc)

, Speed Kills Your Pocketbook 2: Lying With Statistics, shows a CBC television clip of Attorney General David Eby, arguing that because impaired driving fatalities and injuries are falling faster than those attributed to distracted driving, the latter should be cracked down on further. One proposed next step would be to void ICBC insurance in the case of distracted driving, as with impaired driving or street racing.

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B次元官网网址淎ctually some of the stats that weB次元官网网址檝e received indicate that distracted driving could be a worse problem than impaired driving,B次元官网网址� Eby told the CBC. B次元官网网址淪o to treat distracted driving as different from impaired driving seems strange.B次元官网网址�

Thompson, whose Speed Kills Your Pocketbook led to increased speed limits on some remote divided highways in B.C., says in the sequel that that between 2007 and 2016, annual distracted driving fell from 100 to 80 per year. Over the same period, impaired driving fatalities fell even more, from 170 to just below 80.

B次元官网网址淒istracted driving fines are skyrocketing because fewer people are getting killed by drunk drivers,B次元官网网址� Thompson says in the video.

tfletcher@blackpress.ca
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