Holding Cell Phone While Driving is Still Distracted Driving - Warnett Hallen LLP

Holding a cell phone while driving, even when disabling software makes it impossible to use, counts as distracted driving in British Columbia according to a recent ruling by the province’s Court of Appeal. The ruling follows a three-year court battle, in which a Vancouver Island man (not represented by Warnett Hallen LLP) was ticketed for […]

As the holiday season is upon us, many of us will be attending parties, going to shopping centers to complete our loved one’s wish lists or driving out of town to spend time with our family and friends. What do all of these things have in common? Relying on the use of a vehicle. In […]

Driving Safety Tips for School and Playground Zones

As summer becomes fall we are reminded that students will be returning to school in September. This means more traffic and road stress, so all drivers in British Columbia should familiarize themselves with the indicators that schools or playgrounds are near and use extra caution while driving. Safe driving in school zones is important to […]

Pokemon Go and pedestrians

It’s a craze that has taken over the streets for those young and old. Whether you embrace it or not, the Pokémon Go GPS game may increase your risk of personal-injury accidents. This game has had a far-reaching effect on many levels, but with the positive always comes the negative. Unfortunately, the media has been […]

Vancouver Personal Injury Lawyer, Manjot Hallen

Today, BC Transportation Minister Todd Stone announced stiffer distracted driving penalties for anyone caught with a phone or device in hand. According to Vancouver Police, 1600 distracted driving tickets were issued in Vancouver in the month of March alone and 260,000 distracted driving tickets from 2010 to 2015. Manjot Hallen, Vancouver Personal Injury Lawyer was interviewed today […]

Mark Lyons of Warnett Hallen, distracted driving laws

CTV reported yesterday that Suzanne Anton has conducted yet another two-day conference on the direction of distracting driving laws in BC. The session led by government and other partners such as ICBC, MADD and RoadSafetyBC, police, and Doctors of BC addressed the need to reduce the number of deaths by distracted driving on BC Roads. […]

The Impact of Road Distractions in the Community

Karen Bowman and Tim Baillie of Drop It And Drive (DIAD) delivered their hard-hitting distracted driving presentation to the Union of BC Municipalities (UBCM) convention in Vancouver September 21 and 22, 2015. The association brings together 189 local governments from around BC and six First Nations communities to form common ground and opinions on the complex issues that exist […]

school bus and cross walk

BC RCMP traffic services reminds drivers to remember their driving ABC’s Back to school will be in full swing after the September long weekend. Traffic will be very busy with extra volume on BC roads. Parents rushing to get the kids to school on time are at risk of speeding and not paying full attention […]

CTV News reports that Ontario has recently implemented stricter distracted driving fines, now at $490. New rules have also been implemented to protect cyclists, students and tow truck drivers. These go into effect on Tuesday as part of Ontario’s new rules of the road with stiffer distracted driving fines. BC is at the lower end of the […]

Recently Suzanne Anton, BC’s Attorney General, launched a four-week public consultation regarding the penalties for distracted driving. Even though the government took steps in the fall of 2014 to curb distracted driving, the increase in penalties has not dampened the flow of tickets issued by police. In 2014, police in BC wrote more than 50,000 […]