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Double trouble: mid-island driver caught not wearing seat belt while using cell phone

Mar 21, 2019 | 1:54 PM

NANAIMO — Extensive media coverage of a month-long enforcement campaign was apparently not enough to stop one mid-island driver from flagrantly flouting the rules of the road.

RCMP Traffic Services Cpl. Mike Halskov said a man was busted using his cell phone and not wearing a seat belt at the same time during a blitz in Parksville on March 18. The poor choice cost the man $535 in fines, plus four points on his licence.

“Many times when individuals are committing one offence, they will also be committing a second or more,” Halskov said.

He said 25 other tickets were issued during Monday’s blitz in the Parksville-Qualicum area alone, including a pair of $598 fines for two people driving without insurance.

Mounties around the province are holding enforcement events throughout March targetting distracted drivers and those who don’t wear seat belts. Well over 100 tickets have been issued in Nanaimo and Oceanside alone, including 33 no seat belt offences in one day earlier this month.

Halskov said officers often try to use a “gentle reminder approach,” but some behaviour is so bad that tickets must be issued.

“Sometimes we have to use the gentle reminder plus the ticket to try to convey the message and hope it sinks in with individuals, for their own safety.”

Distracted driving kills nine people on Vancouver Island roads each year and is tied to one-in-four fatalities in B.C., according to ICBC.

 

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