Police and ICBC crackdown on cell phone use while driving
Posted August 28, 2012 3:26 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – Keep your eyes on the road, hands on the wheel and stay away from your cell phone.
In the coming weeks, ICBC and police departments across BC will target commuters who use their cell phones while driving – just as kids head back to school.
ICBC says using your cell phone while driving is now the third leading cause of traffic deaths, next to speeding and drinking and driving.
Donny Wing with ICBC says we know using our cell phones and driving is dangerous but we keep doing it.
“A recent Ipsos Reid poll suggests the majority of British Columbians consider texting while driving to be just as risky and dangerous as drinking and driving,” he says. “But the same survey also shows 40 per cent of drivers with mobile phones admit to still using them while they’re driving.”
Police say even handsfree technology, like iPhone’s Siri, distracts people as they have to handle their phones to use it.
They add anyone caught touching their phone while driving is in violation of the distracted driving laws, implemented in February 2010.
Along with more police check stops, ICBC has released a handful of ringtones with lyrics reminding you to not answer a call or text while driving.
