Failure to click: Central B.C. drivers least likely to use seatbelts

Published 12:00 pm Friday, October 31, 2025

Two recent campaigns that targeted unsafe drivers showed that drivers in Central B.C. — an area that includes Kamloops and Merritt — are especially prone to using electronic devices while driving, and failing to use a seatbelt.

In September, BC Highway Patrol (BCHP) mounted two campaigns as part of its Distracted Driving and Occupant Restraint Month. A total of 734 tickets were handed out province-wide for using an electronic device while driving, and 456 tickets were issued for failing to wear a seatbelt (plus other occupant restraint offences).

In both campaigns, drivers from Central B.C. were well ahead of all other areas when it comes to the number of tickets issued.

Use electronic device while driving ($368 fine):

Northern B.C. (including most communities north of 100 Mile): 45

Central B.C. (including Kamloops, Merritt, Kelowna, Clearwater): 285

Kootenay region (including Revelstoke, Nelson, Cranbrook, Golden): 116

Vancouver Island: 76

South Coast (including Metro Vancouver, Sea to Sky country, Fraser Valley: 212

Fail to wear seatbelt ($167 fine), plus other occupant restraint offences:

Northern B.C.: 71

Central B.C.: 162

Kootenay region: 58

Vancouver Island: 79

South Coast: 86

“It’s simple. If we can get fewer people to drive while distracted, and more people to wear their seatbelts, then we will save more lives,” says Supt. Mike Coyle with BC Highway Patrol. “We will keep writing tickets for people who don’t obey the law, but the real goal is public safety.”

Coyle adds that with days getting shorter, it’s even more important to eliminate distractions behind the wheel. “Pedestrians are hard to see in the darkness and rain of fall. You need all of your attention to keep yourself, your loved ones, and the people in your neighbourhood safe on the roads.”

Cpl. Michael McLaughlin, BCHP’s media relations officer, says that while there are reasons why the numbers don’t give a completely accurate picture of where offences are happening, drivers in rural areas such as Central B.C. are not taking safety seriously enough.

“One of the discrepancies you see about why the numbers are so much higher in rural areas is that BCHP focuses on highways,” he notes. “And in some highly-populated areas there is a patchwork of different police forces issuing tickets, and we’re not including those numbers.”

McLaughlin says that one of the things that stands out to him when it comes to the Central region is the ratio of seatbelt use in particular, noting that the number of people not using seatbelts is too high.

“It’s hard to draw a really broad trend for why this is the case, but there’s no question that we see it. We also see it anecdotally in the fatal and very serious collisions we see. Injuries and fatalities increase without seatbelt use, but as you get further away from city centres, seatbelt use declines.”

McLaughlin has a theory as to why this is so.

“One of the words I think about a lot is complacency. People in rural areas get used to their environment, their commute, the roads they drive down all the time. People in rural areas think ‘I know this road’ or ‘Speed limits are for tourists,’ and we see that lack of seatbelt use.

“A theme we try to impress on people is that driving is a very complex task. Just because you’re used to it doesn’t mean you can be complacent. You can drive a road a hundred times, but if one thing happens you need all your focus, all your reaction time. Staying focused on a complex task we take for granted is how to avoid these serious and fatal collisions.”

While the September campaign focused on drivers using electronic devices while behind the wheel, McLaughlin says there are myriad ways to be distracted. Even if what they’re doing is legal, drivers need to be aware of distractions and focus on the road.

“If you’re having an intense conversation with someone in the car you’re distracted. Eating a sandwich while driving is legal, but you’re distracted. You’ll be safer for yourself and the people you love if you slow down and avoid distractions. Focusing on the road makes the driving experience better.”

McLaughlin adds that complacency about the safety of modern vehicles is also a factor when it comes to lack of seatbelt use.

“All those modern features — air bags, safety glass, crumple zones — are crucial safety advances in modern vehicles, but in order to work they depend on people wearing seatbelts or restraints.

“The science is done, the data is in. Seatbelts are free, they’re easy to use, and they will literally save your life.”

McLaughlin says that the goal is not only to make the roads safer, it’s also to make people better drivers.

“If you can become 20 per cent better as a driver, roads will be dramatically safer. If you can’t stomach doing all the things police want you to do, pick two and see how your driving improves, then pick two more.

“We do enforcement and education so people have a more survivable experience on roadways, which are consistently the one place you see completely innocent people injured and killed. People need to drive better so those things happen less. We all think we’re exceptional, but the rules exist for everyone. If we all follow the rules we’ll make the roads much safer.”