Burnaby Mayor Derek Corrigan will have his day in court over his distracted driving ticket from July 2013.
A court date has been set for Corrigan to dispute the ticket he received in Burnaby, which cited use of an electronic device while driving as the form of distraction. He is scheduled to appear at Robson Square Provincial Court on Monday, Jan. 5, 2015 – 18 months after the alleged offence.
The NOW broke the news of the ticket in June, when Corrigan’s wife – Burnaby-Deer Lake MLA Kathy Corrigan – was lobbying for tougher distracted driving laws as the Opposition critic for public safety at the time.
“I disagreed with it fundamentally, and I think the officer was wrong and so I disputed it immediately,” Corrigan told the NOW in the original story.
“It’s a minor infraction, and it’s one that should be dealt with promptly,” he added, criticizing the provincial justice system. “I would’ve liked to have cleared it up a long time ago and then it wouldn’t give people like you what they believe to be a story.”
ICBC recently pegged distracted driving as the second leading cause of fatal crashes in B.C., and a few weeks ago, Justice Minister Suzanne Anton announced stiffer penalties for using a handheld device while driving.
Chatty drivers now receive three demerits, plus a $167 fine, for their first offence. ICBC has also upped insurance premiums for serial offenders, which now range from $175 (four points) to $24,000 (50 points).
