A distracted driving enforcement blitz left 63 Burnaby drivers wishing they’d left their phones alone last week.
Burnaby RCMP traffic services officers were out last Wednesday, Thursday and Friday looking for distracted drivers near Willingdon Avenue and Lougheed Highway; Grandview Highway and Boundary Road; and Willingdon Avenue and Canada Way.
“In many cases during these latest enforcement initiatives, drivers were so distracted by using their phone that they only noticed a police officer standing beside their vehicle after the officer knocked on their window to capture their attention,” stated a Burnaby RCMP news release on the enforcement.
Tickets for distracted driving start at $368 and come with four penalty points for the driver’s record.
March is Distracted Driving Awareness Month, and traffic services officer will be ramping up enforcement over the coming weeks.
“You never know where our officers will be doing distracted driving enforcement next,” Burnaby RCMP Staff Sgt. Thane Royce said in the release. “We hope this knowledge will encourage all drivers to create healthy habits and to leave their phone alone when behind the wheel to keep our roads and communities safer.”
Drivers are 3.6 times more likely to crash if they are using a hand-held phone, according to ICBC data.
Follow Cornelia Naylor on Twitter @CorNaylor
Email [email protected]
