Patrick Grzelak has a habit of driving while wearing earbuds that are attached to his iPhone because they help block out the drone of the highway. He was stopped by police and issued a violation ticket for using an electronic device while driving. A dispute of that traffic ticket was not successful so he appealed his conviction to the supreme court of BC.
On March 15, 2019 Zahir Rajani was issued a violation ticket for using an electronic device while driving. He had been observed by police to be looking down while driving his vehicle. When stopped, it was discovered that Mr. Rajani had a cell phone in his lap, facing up, connected by cord. The constable could not say if the screen was lit or not. Mr. Rajani disputed the ticket.
Jarod Eide was ticketed for using an electronic device while driving on December 13, 2017. He did not enter his dispute of the allegation within the required 30 days of having received the ticket. Subsequently, he applied for an extension of time to dispute on May 11, 2018 and it was denied by Judicial Justice Adair.
Brad Gorski is a 30 year-old resident Vancouver, B.C. who enjoys taking in the city and spending time with his family and friends. He experienced the dangers of distracted driving first hand by driving and texting, failing to stop for a red light. He was hit by a heavy truck and tells his story in this TEDx video.
On August 21, 2018 Philip Partridge was observed by police looking downward while driving. After being stopped, it was noted that he had a cellphone wedged between the folds of the passenger seat with the screen facing him. The screen was not lit when the officer looked inside Mr. Partidge's vehicle.
In this article Paul discusses inattention blindness. "A phenomenon that occurs when the brain is engaged in something else besides driving and your brain fails to process some of the available visual information." The conclusion is that our focus must shift from “hands on the steering wheel” and “eyes on the road” to “brain on the road”.
@KostelecPlan asked a couple of good questions on Twitter this week. He wanted to know what the distracted driving laws in BC are and would I share my thoughts on media outlets using video footage submitted by distracted drivers in their news stories.
Question: I want to ask a question about disputing a traffic ticket. I’ve searched through this site and most talk about touching the phone, but in my case I did not touch the phone but simply bent over to correctly read the map direction.
The Australian National Transport Commission is planning to update rules regarding the use of in vehicle technology and has asked for public input. This could be of equal importance here in British Columbia and the document outlines what we might consider.
I received an interesting fact sheet from the Traffic Injury Research Foundation (TIRF) this week. It looks at distracted driving related fatal collisions in Canada from 2000 to 2015. In some Canadian provinces this type of fatality has surpassed the total caused by alcohol impaired driving. However, that's not the part of the document that made me pause.