thank you! Really good to know.. I just need to figure out a way to secure it to my car... it usually just sits in the middle console

Fixed - what you had was the totally opposite meaning.

Same. All it takes to get a distracted driving ticket is a bit of fidgeting and looking down, and an officer will walk out of a bush and tap on your window.

I dropped my wallet in between the seat and center console last week, and an officer appeared out of the wild at my passenger window. I explained to him what I was trying to retrieve and he gave me a verbal warning. No harm, no foul, but just seemed ridiculous that if he had a bad day he could write me a ticket.

I call it my expensive lesson.

Has any one disputed this ticket and what were the results?

Why was the ticket thrown out? There are many reasons that a ticket can get tossed, even if the ticket was issued for a legitimate offence.

And, see below. The same applies for all electronic devices that a driver may use (ie. TVs don't count, you still can't watch movies on your dash-mounted screen).

some asshole was at the front of the line at a left turn with an advanced green it took two cars honking at him repeatedly to get him to go when the light turned green.....
Youre on the road to drive and so am I and all the other people around you, so how about you fuckin drive...
now inconvenience aside what if it was an emergency vehicle trying to get thru? Its pretty easy to be distracted for a measurable time and if that measurable time happened a few times on the way to the hospital with a seriously injured person they could be dead from idiots not paying attention.
just a little light reading....

What section is this in the MVA? Just wondering.

@Soundy, that guy still got a ticket in the end for something else.

Comedian Randy Liedtke hauled to police station after driving with an iPhone shaped cookie | Daily Mail Online


@OP, Was there keys in your car? Where you in drive? The answer to that is probably yes, and that means you were driving. There's also a driving without due care ticket too. You could be eating while driving and get a ticket too. I mean, carving a turkey while between red lights sounds crazy right?. Not as extreme as reading but the principle remains the same.

No the potential ticket you claim that the officer said that you couldn't read a book at a red light

Nothing to do with his cookie prank, he was just an idiot for doing ANYTHING to attract police attention when he had an outstanding warrant.

Would you pull the same prank? I assume you have no outstanding warrant.

I might, and I don't.

hmm :accepted:. looks like im going to invest in an ipad mini dash kit from soundman.

I have no idea what it is called. My "claim" if that is how you want to refer to it, is that I said that I was simply reading a book. He responded that even if it was a paper book, it would still be illegal.

I can see the logic in this law. I was simply unaware that it was illegal, that's all.

Two points. First, this happened at a red light, not while driving. Second,ambulances have this thingee called a siren which manages to draw the attention of drivers in the area. At least here in the Tri-city area, and also in New York City, where I drove one for 5 years.

You seem to be missing the point. I am not arguing that what I did was ok or not. I simply asked if this is what the law actually meant. Since it obviously is, and I now know this, I will be paying the fine tomorrow and not reading any more while in the car.

Show_BC sorry I should have clarified, officer didn't show up was the reason it was thrown out.

Being at a red light is driving. You are in control of your vehicle at that immediate moment. If you're driving an auto, it's your foot on the brakes preventing the car from moving right? If it's stick, I assume you're holding down the brakes and the clutch pedal right?

Being at a red light doesn't mean you're not driving. false presumption there.

phil's point is that if you were at a red light, and the light turns green, your eyes are on your book/ipad/whatever you're reading from, and you are now "distracted" from moving your car when it turns green and you miss it even for a fraction of a second. you might see the green light 99% of the time, but that still makes you 1% distracted.

if an ambulance was on the way, half of the time they have their lights on only. from what i've seen recently, they only turn on sirens when someone isn't getting out of the way. this would make you a hazard since you are relying on the audible noise to pay attention, so again, you are still a distracted driver.

i don't even care if there's a ticket for distracted driving, driving is an earned right, not a privilege. either drive or don't. don't drive and do other shit.

I've seen people so engrossed in what they're doing (phone or otherwise), they're oblivious to everything around them, including sirens, car horns, truck horns, even train horns. Combine that with a modern luxury car that's as quiet as a bank vault inside...?

Granted. And may I congratulate you on explaining this both clearly and politely? Thanks.

No arguement. Having driven one myself, I hear sirens before anyone else in the vehicle does, but many do seem to take time...

It was part of the pdf file that is at the bottom of this page: Distractions While Driving: Cell Phones and other Devices - Road Safety Rules and Consequences of Unsafe Driving - RoadSafetyBC

It's titled "Use of Electronic Devices While Driving"

ahhh the good ol ignorance excuse..... works 0% of the time.. all the time..

Thanks for posting that.. I thought I would have to dig that up and post it for the umpteenth time for those who fail to use the search function... of google for that matter.

You can be charged for distracted driving for simply having a phone sitting loose in a cup holder playing music, no interaction with the device needed! Figure that one out. Can I pick my nose or scratch my scrotum? Am I going to get pulled over for scratching my ear?

Sometimes the laws really do go to far, and in this case we do have the police to blame for asking for increased enforcement powers. While the OP was wrong to be holding up his iPad, it calls into question the inconsistency of the laws. Can I read directions from a paper note? What about all the bus drivers I see reading the newspaper while stopped at a light?

Maybe taking a sip from my coffee mug while stopped at a light will be illegal soon too.

I've never once allowed myself to be distracted by something in my car to the point I've ended up tuning out what's going on outside, yet I'm at risk of being charged for distracted driving every time I drive. Figure that one out.