Man caught driving with tablet, cellphone tied to steering wheel

Metro Van’s most distracted driver? If there’s an award for the most distracted driver in Metro Vancouver, this has to be the winner.

A driver who was caught with his tablet computer and cellphone tied to his steering wheel was apparently surprised to learn that constitutes distracted driving.

Vancouver police pulled the man over Wednesday morning after an officer spotted him wearing headphones near Cambie Street and Broadway.

When the officer approached the vehicle, he saw the driver had attached his phone to the wheel using a single piece of string, and was using it to prop up his tablet. Police shared a picture of the rig on their traffic unit’s Twitter account, where it raised the eyebrows of many responsible drivers.

"Just when I think I've seen everything, a photo like this is captured by one of our officers," Const. Jason Doucette said. "We are reminding our drivers to leave their devices alone behind the wheel."

The officer had a long conversation about road safety with the man, who was ultimately only handed an $81 ticket for not having his driver's licence.

Doucette said police decided to let him off with a warning this time, which some Vancouverites found a little too merciful.

"I think he should be put in jail. [Distracted drivers] endanger people's lives," Lyle Morin told CTV News. "If people start going to jail they might think twice about it."

Normally, getting caught driving distracted isn't cheap; motorists are dinged $368 and given four driver penalty points, which can impact their insurance.

Vancouver police recently handed out a distracted driving ticket to someone who was caught playing the Pokemon Go cellphone game after unknowingly pulling up beside two officers.

With files from CTV Vancouver's Jon Woodward