Distracted drivers caught talking on hand-held communication devices, adjusting their GPS or watching DVDs will get three demerit points, starting Oct. 20, the province announced Wednesday.
That’s in addition to the current fine of $167, which Minister of Justice Suzanne Anton said is clearly not enough on its own.
The car does not have to be moving to be subject to both penalties. Just holding an electronic communication device while stopped at a red light is banned in B.C.
Texting while driving is already subject to three demerits, but Anton said it’s necessary to equally penalize all forms of distracted driving, which is the second-highest contributing factor in vehicle fatalities in B.C. Drivers who accumulate too many demerit points pay higher insurance premiums.
Researchers compare five seconds of texting while driving at highway speeds to driving blindfolded for most of the length of a football field, the government said in a statement.
Anton said the province is looking to adjust fines for all Motor Vehicle Act offences to ensure they are sufficient deterrents.
On average, from 2009 to 2013, 88 people were killed each year due to distracted driving, 105 through speeding and 86 due to impairment by alcohol or drugs.
In 2013, about 51,200 drivers in B.C. were ticketed for distracted driving.
The new demerits are aimed especially at drivers who see the fine “simply as the cost of doing business,” Anton said.
B.C. will also monitor the effectiveness of more drastic legislation elsewhere, Anton said.
The Ontario government has said it plans to introduce a distracted-driving law that hikes fines to between $300 and $1,000 from the current $60 to $500.
While Anton said that a $1,000 fine was “rather high,” she expects drivers will take distracted-driving penalties more seriously because demerits remain on driving records for five years.
More than three demerit points results in an insurance-premium increase of at least $175. A driver who receives more than one distracted driving ticket in a year will pay at least $634, based on two fines and a $300 penalty premium for the six demerit points accrued.
Victoria deputy police chief Del Manak applauded the expansion of demerit points as a step in the right direction, but said a much higher fine that has to be paid within 30 days of the infraction would send a much stronger message of deterrence.
With demerits, higher insurance premiums might not come into effect until months down the road, Manak said.
Additional reporting by Katie DeRosa
