Distracted Driving and Disabling Technology

by Karen Sawatzky | Aug 6, 2018 | Caselaw, Criminal Law, Distracted Driving

A recent decision from the British Columbia Provincial Court acquitted a driver of using a cellphone while driving. Vancouver Island police were conducting a cellphone and seatbelt safety campaign when they charged a driver with using a cellphone while driving. The driver had been informed by his employer that his cellphone had been equipped with software that disabled it from functioning when it was in a vehicle in motion. At the time he was charged, he had moved it from the passenger seat beside him to the dashboard.

The judge considered the term “use” in both the Motor Vehicles Act and the Use of Electronic Devices While Driving Regulation. Every jurisdiction has its own distracted driving law, so the facts of this case may not be applicable elsewhere.

R. v. Tannhauser, 2018 BCPC 183

h/t What’s hot on CanLII this week.