SCREAMING MOTORIST AT DISTRACTED DRIVING CRACKDOWN

Victoria police were confronted by a screaming motorist Wednesday morning during a campaign aimed at distracted drivers.

The driver claimed that he had simply picked up his cellphone to check the time, but that didn’t fly. When he was told his fine was $368 plus four penalty points — meaning a $175 jump in insurance premiums — the yelling started.

“There’s some unhappy people, for sure,” said Victoria Police Sgt. Ron Cronk.

One cellphone user had Quebec licence plates, but Cronk said being a visitor is no excuse. “The bottom line is you’re in British Columbia, you’ve got to obey the rules of British Columbia.”

Besides, he said, distracted driving is a problem across Canada, and the issue receives plenty of publicity.

All told, police at Johnson and Broad streets ticketed about half a dozen drivers for using cellphones or electronic devices in a little over an hour, Cronk said. Two cyclists received $29 tickets for riding without helmets, and two skateboarders were told not to ride on the sidewalk.

“It’s been fruitful,” Cronk said of the morning’s work. “Just our presence here has an impact.”

Police departments from Shawnigan Lake south were on the streets Wednesday as part of an ongoing provincewide effort to fight distracted driving, said Colleen Woodger of the Insurance Corp. of B.C.

“All the major high-crash areas [were] being covered.”

Volunteers were also out, trying to spread the message about the hazards of distracted driving, and more than 100 lawn signs urging drivers to put down their phones were in place around the region.

“Our basic message is that we all know that distracted driving’s dangerous,” Woodger said. “It is the cause of most rear-end crashes and injuries. It’s the second-leading cause of car-crash fatalities in B.C., with an average of 81 people being killed each year.”

Many people think it’s OK to use an electronic device in bumper-to-bumper traffic or at a traffic light, but that isn’t the case, Woodger said — the rules apply whenever you’re in control of your vehicle.

“Our messaging is it can wait. No call or text is so important it’s worth risking your life,” she said. “If you struggle with that, turn your phone off. Put it in your trunk and reduce your temptation.”

The basic fine for using a cellphone or other device while driving jumped to $368 from $167 in June, while the number of penalty points went from three to four. A second offence brings the same fine, but additional penalty points mean a $520 insurance penalty.

A third offence will cost the driver over $3,000, and triggers a licence review that could mean a driving prohibition of three to 12 months.