The province is getting tougher on distracted drivers, but not tough enough. Penalties should reflect the reality that distracted drivers kill more people than do drunk drivers.
Drivers don鈥檛 seem to be getting the message that texting or talking on a cellphone while driving is dangerous. The fine of $167, introduced in February 2010, obviously isn鈥檛 reinforcing that message.
鈥淓arly indications are that many of the most frequent offenders who are caught talking on their phone in the car just see those tickets as the cost of doing business,鈥� says Attorney General Suzanne Anton.
If the fine is simply 鈥渢he cost of doing business,鈥� then obviously it isn鈥檛 high enough. A higher fine 鈥� at least double the current rate 鈥� might make drivers pay more attention.
Yet the government鈥檚 plan is to leave the fine as it is and increase demerit points for distracted driving. (A texting infraction now nets three demerit points, but talking on a cellphone while driving brings no demerits.) The aim, says Anton, 鈥渋s to make the consequences last longer.鈥�
Punishment delayed is often punishment ignored. The consequences should be more severe and they should be immediate. The obvious move 鈥� to almost everyone but government, it seems 鈥� is to remove the offending devices.
Just as a roadside prohibition eliminates the danger posed by an intoxicated driver, confiscating the cellphones of distracted drivers removes the distraction. Furthermore, it鈥檚 an immediate consequence directly connected to the offence. Given that cellphones are no longer mere appliances, but have become vital organs, the removal of them should cause enough thought-provoking distress to make a difference.
Of course, a driver can get a new phone, but it means expense and inconvenience, to say nothing of losing all the information on the device.
The next step, as suggested by Victoria Deputy Police Chief Del Manak, would be to impound the vehicles of repeat offenders.
Concerned about the number of deaths and the extent of damage caused by drinking drivers, the sa国际传媒 government got tough, implementing roadside prohibitions and impounding cars. The measures have generally withstood legal challenges, and they have reduced the number of drunk drivers on the road.
The consequences are harsh, and the message has been heard, so clearly, in fact, that restaurants complained about the decline in liquor bills. Lives have been spared as a result.
Given that tough approach to drinking and driving, the province鈥檚 milquetoast approach to distracted driving is puzzling. Boosting demerit points won鈥檛 cut it.
Impaired driving is blamed for 55 highway deaths in sa国际传媒 in 2012, while distracted driving accounted for 81 deaths. Without harsher penalties and more stringent enforcement, more people will likely die because of distracted driving.
As Oak Bay Police Chief Andy Brinton notes, distracted driving will be harder to eradicate than impaired driving.
鈥淚t is likely far more prevalent than impaired driving ever was and generally seen as benign by many,鈥� he says.
It will continue to be viewed as a benign activity if the government doesn鈥檛 get tougher.
Sometimes as we walk city sidewalks, we encounter drug addicts, often homeless people who mumble and stumble and look dangerous, and we regard them with some nervousness, even though they are not likely to cause us harm.
Yet we drive daily surrounded by countless cellphone addicts whose addiction poses a real and immediate danger. Their selfish and thoughtless habit costs all of us 鈥� the Insurance Corp. of sa国际传媒 is raising rates 5.2 per cent for all drivers, to cover the $500-million increase in injury claims from distracted driving over the past five years.
The government needs to do more than increase the penalty from one gentle slap on the wrist to two.
