'Only' a touch is no defence for distracted driving in BC, even for delivery drivers
A BC delivery driver, with just seconds to respond, tapped his phone to accept a job while stopped at a traffic light. In those seconds he was caught for distracted driving, and the law left him no leeway.
Despite an initial acquittal and a sympathetic judge, Uber Eats driver Vasu Virda was handed a $295 fine last month after the Crown appealed to BC Supreme Court.
"I accept what you say, Mr. Virda, that you were not intending to break the law and that you were intending to operate safely and that you were required to deal with that app as part of your work," Justice Wendy Baker said in her decision. "However, I must apply the law as it is written and, as a result, I must unfortunately convict you under the section."
Virda was initially charged with using an electronic device while driving July 31, 2024, after he was spotted by a police officer tapping his phone to accept a delivery. The Uber Eats app only allows him five seconds to accept a job, he told a provincial court judge.
The judge acquitted Virda because he touched the screen "only once" to accept a delivery while at the stop light.
While BC law does allow for a single touch, that allowance is specifically meant for accepting or ending a call, not using an app, a stipulation that led the Crown to appeal to a higher court.
Walker accepted he was working behind the wheel "as safely as he could." Virda further argued the law is "not fair" to delivery drivers and taxi drivers, who need their devices for work, but the law's fairness for those drivers was not for her to decide, Walker said.
"I am not here to rewrite the legislation to include them. I am not able to do that, so I must apply the law as it is written," she said.
Virda was given six months to pay the fine as of the Dec. 18 decision.
To contact a reporter for this story, email Levi Landry or call 250-819-3723 or email the editor. You can also submit photos, videos or news tips to the newsroom and be entered to win a monthly prize draw.
We welcome your comments and opinions on our stories but play nice. We won't censor or delete comments unless they contain off-topic statements or links, unnecessary vulgarity, false facts, spam or obviously fake profiles. If you have any concerns about what you see in comments, email the editor in the link above. SUBSCRIBE to our awesome newsletter here.
