Mounties say a West Kelowna, B.C., woman was recently fined for driving while distracted by an electronic device—but the device was not the culprit one would suspect. Ther driver was on Highway 97 in Vernon the afternoon of Nov. 5 when police saw her with an open laptop on her lap, according to B.C. Highway Patrol. “Driving is a complex task that requires your complete attention to deal with the unexpected,” Sgt. Michael McLaughlin said, in a news release Friday. “Just because you’re comfortable behind the wheel, and you have something you ‘need’ to do, doesn’t mean the rules of the road don’t apply to you.” The 52-year-old was handed a $368 ticket. Police say it was one of 25 distracted driving tickets handed out during a 2.5-hour blitz, along with 10 tickets for seatbelt violations. “Prescribed electronic devices in the BC Motor Vehicle Act include televisions, electronic logging devices, and any hand-held device that can process or compute data,” McLaughlin continued. “It’s astonishing that we need to remind drivers that watching TV and using your laptop is illegal, or that holding a cell phone like a piece of pizza is not ‘hands free,’ but here we are.”
