DISTRACTED DRIVING
Lawyers say tickets could be challenged
Proving the identities of people who used cellphones to take photos and videos while driving by the scene of a fatal collision in Saskatoon could be a challenge if the tickets mailed to the vehicles' owners are contested in court, say two criminal defence lawyers.
The crash between three loaded semis killed a 51-year-old trucker on Wednesday morning.
Saskatoon police said they issued 32 distracted driving tickets after taking note of the licence plates on vehicles whose drivers were using their phones behind the wheel as they passed the scene near Circle Drive and College Drive.
The lawyers noted distinctions between driving infractions where the responsibility is placed on the owner of the vehicle — such as red light camera tickets or photo speed enforcement — and infractions directed at the driver of the vehicle. Red light camera and speed camera tickets do not lead to demerit point penalties for the vehicle owner, for example.
Distracted driving fines start at $580 and a convicted driver would receive four demerit points.
Criminal defence lawyer Brady Knight said sending a ticket to the registered owner without any other proof is not enough to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the registered owner was the driver. Other proof would include dash camera footage or photos taken of the vehicles by police at the scene.
Knight said the Crown would have to prove each element of the offence beyond a reasonable doubt in court, including the driver's identity.
Under normal circumstances, police would see the driver using their phone and pull them over, then confirm their identity through their driver's licence.
“I think the biggest thing is there's no excuse for individuals who were taking part in this activity, but one of the fundamental principles of our justice system here in Canada is that we need to prove beyond a reasonable doubt whether people committed an offence or not,” Knight said.
“And frankly, if you're looking to deter people from doing that, fining people who are not responsible for it is likely not going to accomplish that goal of general deterrence.”
Kyla Lee, a B.c.-based criminal defence lawyer who has handled cases in Saskatchewan, highlighted the difference in consequences for tickets issued to owners instead of drivers and also noted the difficulty of proving the owner was driving the vehicle at the time, unless there's a clear photo of the driver.
She understands why police would want to issue tickets to the drivers taking photos and videos of the collision scene, but there are still ongoing investigations into the collision itself and photos of the scene could be potential evidence, she added.
“They're creating a situation where every single person who collected these photos is not going to want to co-operate and turn them over and could end up stymieing legitimate investigations that need to be done into how this accident happened ...,” she said.