These distractions can be costly.
This is the week where fiddling with your cellphone while driving will cost you dearly.
The province’s new distracted-driving penalties are now in effect.
Anybody caught talking on a cellphone (or operating a hand-held audio player, such as an iPod or MP3 player, or programming a GPS) will be subject to three penalty points and a $167 fine.
While many who have already been caught for distracted driving will grumble about the heavy hand of government and yet more fines, it is worth noting that distracted driving is the second-leading contributing factor in vehicle fatalities in B.C., according to authorities who compile such statistics.
There was a time when drinking and driving was not considered the social taboo it is today, but heightened awareness led by government, police and private groups, along with far more serious consequences, has made pariahs of those who decide to imbibe and drive.
Perhaps those who insist on driving and texting or driving while talking into a cellphone attached to the side of their head will one day be viewed as intoxicated drivers are today.
Whether or not you agree with the new punishment, consider the penalties before you next decide to use that device while behind the wheel:
• Drivers that accrue more than three points must pay an ICBC driver penalty-point premium that starts at $175 and will escalate if they receive more points.
• A driver who receives two distracted-driving tickets in a year would pay $634, which is the cost of two fines and a $300 penalty for six points.
• As points build on a person’s driving record, the Superintendent of Motor Vehicles may also identify a driver as high-risk and monitor or prohibit him or her under the Driver Improvement Program.
-Kamloops This Week
