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It would seem there is at least one Saskatoon driver who just can’t help but to be distracted behind the wheel.
In a Monday morning tweet, Saskatoon police said they pulled over a driver who was on his cell phone. Nothing out of the ordinary there.
But as it turns out, this was the driver’s fifth distracted driving ticket in the last 12 months.
According to SGI, starting at the beginning of February, distracted driving fines more than doubled from the $280 they previously were for all offences to $580 for a first offence and $1,400 for a second.
All distracted driving fines also come with a four demerit point penalty. The second and all subsequent offences, within 12 months, also include an immediate seven-day vehicle seizure.
In the case of a third offense, or fifth in this man’s case, the driver is given a fine of $2,100 as well as the other penalties.
Luckily for this man, his first four offences came before the increased fines took effect. If they had happened under the new rules he would have had to pay over $8,000 in fines.
Even still, within the last 12 months this man has received $3,220 in fines, 20 demerit points off his license and had his vehicle impounded for a total of 28 days. And that’s not including the tow truck and impound fees or the $50 owed to SGI for every point below zero.
When a driver hits 12 demerit points, a warning is issued to them by SGI. At 15 demerits, a driver has to take a defensive driving course and at 18 they have to attend driver improvement training.
If a driver gets 21 demerits, they will have their license suspended for 30 days, followed by a 90-day suspension at 24 demerit points and a 180-day suspension at 27.
