The British Columbia Highway Patrol says more than 3,000 tickets were issued to drivers in March, which marked the RCMP’s occupant restraint and distracted driving month campaign. The goal of the campaign is to highlight how distracted driving remains an issue in the province, with the main issues being cellphone use behind the wheel and a failure to properly use a seatbelt. “You can look around and see that too many people are still using their phones while driving,” says Cpl. Michael McLaughlin with the B.C. Highway Patrol. “Why some people can’t bring themselves to use their seatbelt remains a mystery.” In total, 3,497 tickets were issued in the month of March, more than three quarters of those being electronic device tickets. Another 775 seatbelt related tickets were handed out, including 22 tickets for drivers who failed to properly secure their children in car seats. Central B.C. saw the highest number of tickets issued, accounting for 36 per cent of the total number issued in province, while the South Coast region, including Metro Vancouver, made up 27 per cent of the total. Overall, the B.C. Highway Patrol wrote slightly fewer tickets for people failing to wear seatbelts or using their electronic devices compared to March 2025, but police say B.C. drivers still have lessons to learn about safe driving. “When you consider staffing changes, different enforcement techniques, weather, and other factors, these numbers are essentially flat,” says McLaughlin. Metro Vancouver drivers saw the worst increase in distracted drivers, up more than 200 tickets from last year, while northern B.C. saw the biggest improvement, down to 100 from 153 last year. “Distracted driving is still one of the top three things that can kill you on B.C. roads, along with speed and impairment,” says McLaughlin. “Seatbelts are just such an easy way to save lives in collisions.”
