Ministry of Justice
VICTORIA – Heartfelt submissions and strong opinions permeate the more than 10,000 submissions and comments government received during its month-long consultation on distracted driving.
Among the powerful, often personal stories shared in 962 email submissions – supplemented by 1,932 online comments – were:
• A young couple's lament that – in addition to enduring severe physical and psychological trauma – they lost their unborn child after a distracted driver veered into their path.
• A call for heftier fines from a couple who lost a son when a distracted driver cut him off.
By the numbers:
• During the four-week consultation, which closed last week, the dedicated website received more than 24,000 visits and the #distractedbc hashtag figured in more than 1,000 tweets.
• The site's "Add Your Voice" page, which asked contributors to answer nine specific questions, drew more than 69,000 responses from 9,400 individual contributors.
• Notable response totals for specific questions:
Nearly 90 per cent of 9,106 respondents indicated they are very concerned about distracted driving in B.C. -- 90 per cent of 7,536 respondents indicated the fine for distracted driving should be increased.
96 per cent of 7,493 respondents said drivers who've received multiple tickets for distracted driving should face greater sanctions.
Next steps:
RoadSafetyBC expects to complete its analysis of the consultation submissions and data, plus further review of contemporary approaches in other jurisdictions, and be able to provide options for government's consideration this fall. The province anticipates finalizing new measures by spring 2016, and potentially earlier depending on the outcome of the analysis.