Distracted driver
The woman, whose name nor age have been released, recently got two distracted driving tickets in 10 days, bringing her total to that gaudy 14. While most have been due to talking on her phone some have been for texting while driving.
All of her tickets have come within the past five years and naturally they represent only the number of times the woman has been caught driving and using her cell phone. What the real number of times she’s done so is anybody’s guess.
In a recent incident she nearly crashed into a police officer’s car while texting. The officer got out of his vehicle and, not surprisingly, issued her a ticket. All of her infractions occurred in Vancouver or the nearby municipality of Richmond.
Police seek license
The Vancouver police say they are now making a formal request to the Crown that the woman’s license be revoked. Their media spokesman, Sgt. Randy Finchum said that enough is enough.
“This woman is not getting the message,” he told media. “She has been educated 14 separate times and she chooses to ignore everybody else’s safety.”
Sgt. Fincham added that he had “never heard of anyone who’s had that many tickets for the same offence” and that it is clear to him that “the financial penalty is not having any effect on this driver.”
In addition to a $167 fine for each transgression — her total is over $2,300 to date — her car insurance has gone up dramatically due to the 3 demerit points she received each time she’s been caught.
It has not yet been determined if she will have her license suspended, nor it is known if this is an record. It would be frightening to think of someone earning more tickets for such an infraction. In B.C., the government car insurance corporation, ICBC, says that last year there were 81 traffic fatalies attributed to distracted driving.
