COVID-19 considerations result in break for distracted driver

Concerns about COVID-19 have convinced a B.C. Supreme Court judge to suggest a reprieve for a distracted driver facing a licence suspension.

B.C.'s superintendent of motor vehicles ordered a four-month driving prohibition for Nadine Mayer after she was ticketed twice within the space of a month for driving while using an electronic device.

Mayer fought and lost the prohibition. But in rejecting the appeal, Justice Carla Forth said she worried about the impact a suspension would have at this moment in time.

• Get the latest news on COVID-19 in B.C. with our daily roundup

"With the current COVID-19 outbreak in the province and world, I am concerned with the immediate imposition of the four month driving prohibition considering Ms. Mayer's evidence is that she is a single mother and lives 20 minutes away from the grocery store and pharmacy," Forth wrote in a decision this week.

"With the current public health emergency and the need for all individuals to maintain 'physical distancing,' removing Ms. Mayer's ability to drive to get groceries for herself and her children could potentially put herself, her family and others in her community at risk."

'I'm coming'

The tickets wereMayer's first violations in a driving historythat dates back to 1990.

She appealed the suspension on the grounds that the superintendent didn't give sufficient reasons for taking away her licence and failed to take into account the circumstances around her offences.

According to the ruling, Mayer was first ticketed on March 25, 2018, and then again three weeks later. At the time, she didn't dispute either ticket.

Because distracted driving is considered a high-risk offence, getting two tickets in quick succession ensures that a driver's record is red-flagged.

Adjudicators then make a decision based on guidelines suggesting a range of between three and 12 months suspension for experienced drivers who rack up any combination of two or more high-risk offences in the space of one year.

Mayer claimed she was driving to work when she got the first ticket. And her boss kept calling.

"She picked up the phone with an intention of saying, 'I'm coming,' and was issued a ticket," Forth wrote.

'Accept your lumps'

The next time, Mayer claimed her phone had been ringing incessantly, so she reached forward to decline the call and put the device in the centre console when she came to a red light.

"She felt that she did not deserve a ticket as she was trying to follow the advice of the previous officer, who told her she should put her phone away if she felt tempted to use it," Forth wrote.

Mayer said she didn't dispute the tickets at the time because she was raised to "accept your lumps and learn from them." But she felt a suspension was unfair.

The judge disagreed, finding that the superintendent's decision was reasonable and that licence suspensions were about deterring poor driving behaviour not just prohibiting potentially dangerous drivers.

Forth said the four-month suspension was actually on the low end of potential prohibitions.

But she said consideration of COVID-19 might require a delay for the imposition of the penalty, which was supposed to begin on April 24.

If Mayer and the superintendent can't reach a mutual agreement on suspending the suspension, Forth has given then until April 20 to make their case.