If you are hitting the Sea to Sky Highway, put your phone away and buckle up, police say.
During a March enforcement campaign by BC Highway Patrol officers, numerous tickets were written in the Sea to Sky Corridor, with the bulk of those written in and around Squamish specifically.
About 60% of the tickets issued by officers in the Sea to Sky Corridor were for using an electronic device while driving, and the rest were for seatbelt violations, according to Cpl. Michael McLaughlin, media relations officer for BC Highway Patrol.
During the March Distracted Drivers and Occupant Restraint Campaign, officers wrote almost 2,800 tickets for distracted driving in B.C.
They also wrote 873 tickets to people who were not wearing seatbelts, including 87 tickets to parents whose children were not properly secured, according to an RCMP news release.
“Distracted driving, along with speeding and impaired driving, is consistently one of the top three contributors to fatal crashes in B.C,” said McLaughlin, in a release at the start of the campaign.
“We often hear drivers ask for a warning. Distracted driving is so risky that your warning will be a violation ticket. The real consequences would be to get hurt or worse.”
In the South Coast, Lower Mainland region, which includes the Sea to Sky, 603 tickets were issued for using an electronic device and 145 seatbelt and occupant restraint tickets were handed out, including 37 for children who were improperly secured.
According to ICBC, an average of 53 people die every year in B.C. because they were not wearing seat belts properly.
"Many of these distracted driving tickets were written for people using the highway system—not merely those stopped at intersections, says Supt. Mike Coyle, in the release. "These numbers prove two things: One, we need to do better. Two, everyone in B.C. is paying the consequences of collisions that come from high-risk driving behaviours."
Tickets for not wearing a seatbelt range from $109 (for a child who is improperly restrained) to $167 for an adult who fails to wear a seatbelt. A ticket for using an electronic device while driving carries a $368 fine.
