Policing the issue a fine line
Editor:
Re: Light penalties the wrong call, Feb. 28 letters.
The more interesting part of the letter by C.J. Mitton isn’t the law, but rather that some of the worst offenders of using hand-held devices, especially phones, while driving are the police themselves.
This isn’t an attack on the police, but rather their ability to get away with what others get charged with.
I’ve only once seen a police car pull over before using a hand-held cellphone, while they repeatedly take their eyes off the road to type on the in-car computer.
It’s amazing there are as few police-involved incidents as there are.
Confiscation of devices isn’t a viable option, as at $38 per hour per cop, it would be just too expensive to manage a warehouse full of devices, which would amass faster than anyone would expect.
Just increasing the fine to prohibitive rates would help bring this practice to a standstill, as would greater police alertness in catching offenders. The cost of a single ticket in time, police costs and court costs is far greater than the fine itself.
Building in all the costs into the fine would make a single ticket well over $1,000 per offence.
J. Cooper, Surrey
COMMENTS
Let's keep comments:
We ask that all participants own their words by logging in with their Facebook account. It's a simple process that will take seconds and helps keep our comments free of trolls, cranks, and “drive-by” commenters.
We reserve the right to remove comments from anyone using screen names, pseudonyms or false identities. Please see our FAQ if you have questions or concerns about using Facebook to comment.