After setting up their roadside sting operations, Ridge Meadows RCMP are reporting only a few dozen drivers ticketed during March – Distracted Driving awareness month. Police, helped by volunteers from Speed Watch, set up check points around town to catch people texting or talking on their mobiles while driving.
For Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows, 45 motorists were ticketed.
According to ICBC, distracted drivers kill about 80 people a year in B.C. The province has one of the lowest fines in the country, $167 per ticket.
Speed though continues to kill.
“Speeding is still number one,” cause of fatalities, said a police spokesman.
Over the four-day Easter weekend, Ridge Meadows Mounties towed 19 vehicles for excessive speeding, by more than 40 km/h over the limit. Only two extra officers were on duty for that purpose.
In addition to fines, motorists have their vehicles towed and impounded for one week. “Every single one was towed.”
One driver was exceeding the speed limit by 64 kmh.