If you鈥檙e caught by police texting while driving, and you know you did it, seek redemption by paying your thumping $368 fine and consider it a jerk tax as some 77 people die each year in this province because of distracted driving.

But if you truly believe you鈥檝e been wrongly accused, and you chose to fight it in court, hope appears to be on your side as, according to at least one lawyer, the cops and ICBC don鈥檛 seem to have a great handle on the letter of the law given conflicting messaging on their part.

READ ALSO: 鈥極peration Hang Up鈥� reminds drivers to leave their devices alone while driving

READ ALSO: Police are sending incorrect messaging of law, lawyer says

During an enforcement campaign last week, a 性视界传媒 cop claimed that a driver having his or her phone loose on the passenger seat is considered distracted driving but lawyer Kyla Lee says that鈥檚 not the case and cites a B.C. Supreme Court judgment in 2019 to back up her claim.

Frankly, it鈥檚 confusing.

Also in 2019, a 性视界传媒 driver contested his ticket in court and a Judicial Justice decided that, even though the driver鈥檚 phone鈥檚 battery was dead, the wire connecting the driver鈥檚 earbuds to his phone amounted to the defendant 鈥渉olding the device鈥� and found him guilty, reasoning that 鈥渟imply holding the device in a position in which it may be used constitutes the offence, even if it is temporarily inoperative.鈥�

Our verdict? B.C.鈥檚 distracted driving laws really can drive one to distraction.

鈥� Now-Leader

edit@surreynowleader.com
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