Cell phone blitz

Kelowna

2023-10-05 15:48 PDT

On October 3, 2023, Kelowna RCMP Municipal Traffic Services and BC Highway Patrol conducted a joint operation on Enterprise Way in Kelowna, focusing on distracted driving related offences. Over the course of two hours, officers issued twenty-two cell phone tickets along with four no seatbelt tickets.

Cited from Distracted driving (icbc.com);

Every ticket for distracted driving includes a fine of $368 and four driver penalty points.

If you have four or more points on your driving record at the end of a 12-month period, you pay a driver penalty point (DPP) premium. You may also have to pay a driver risk premium if you get more than one distracted driving ticket in a three-year period.

If you have a Learner’s (L) or Novice (N) license, you aren’t allowed to use any electronic devices (like phone or GPS) behind the wheel, for any purpose, even in hands-free mode.

There are endless and inexpensive options nowadays to ensure adherence with the ‘use of electronic devices while driving’ laws, not to mention most vehicles now come standard with a blue tooth feature states Sgt. Colby Attlesey i/c of Kelowna Municipal Traffic Services. It is unsafe and unacceptable that we are still catching so many drivers overtly using their phones while driving and we will continue to fine those that we do.

Man using cell phone while driving