B.C. drivers still failing to buckle up, leave phones alone as RCMP write thousands of tickets in March

“As for distracted driving, for whatever reason Central B.C. seems to lead the way in people who think they can drive while distracted, but they’re not alone. This is a common problem we see in drivers who believe that maybe the rules are for other people and not for them. That is not true.”

In total, police wrote 3,497 tickets during this year’s Occupant Restraint and Distracted Driving campaign across the province, with 2,722 of those being electronic device tickets. It’s a slight decline from the 3,559 tickets that police issued in March 2025.

“When you consider staffing changes, different enforcement techniques, weather and other factors, these numbers are essentially flat,” McLaughlin added.

Tickets issued during the March 2026 Occupant Restraint and Distracted Driving campaign in B.C. (Image Credit: BC Highway Patrol)

Tickets issued during the March 2025 Occupant Restraint and Distracted Driving campaign in B.C. (Image Credit: BC Highway Patrol)

With the busy summer travel season approaching, McLaughlin says police will continue with their education and enforcement efforts across the province, hoping that one day people will finally get the message.

“Distracted driving is still one of the top three things that can kill you on B.C. roads, along with speed and impairment, and seatbelts are just such an easy way to save lives in collisions,” he said.

“We are actually ticketing the people who are the most egregious offenders – people who are actually talking and texting on their phones. We tend to go after the worst offenders so it is a real problem in central B.C. and we’d like to see that trend reverse.”

by Victor Kaisar

B.C. drivers still failing to buckle up, leave phones alone as RCMP write thousands of tickets in March

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