Lap dog nets Burnaby driver $109 ticket

[Castanet News]

Holding a dog while driving earned a Burnaby driver a $109 fine last week. The man was pulled over on Lougheed Highway near Production Way on April 9, according...

[HimBig]

It should be the exact same fine as a cell phone in your hands. All these people that claim their dog is their "fur baby" yet they don't think about what an airbag would do to a 2lb dog. Funny thing.... I never let my kids sit on my lap while driving because that would be unsafe

[lloydbiker]

Absolute stupidity! I agree, should be same fine as cell phone use. I'd bet it would be as high if it was a child on the lap. Our dogs (35Kg +) have special padded travel harness' and are tethered in rear seat for travel, regardless of the distance.

[andymcd]

Totally agree with HimBig. A lot of these folks really don't have a clue as to what would happen if the airbag goes off with a pet on your lap. If you wouldn't let your toddler seat on your lap you sure shouldn't let a dog.

[Bsuds]

Absolute stupidity! I agree, should be same fine as cell phone use. I'd bet it would be as high if it was a child on the lap. Our dogs (35Kg +) have special padded travel harness' and are tethered in rear seat for travel, regardless of the distance.

Our dog is only 10kg and has a harness and tether while driving.

Too bad the RCMP just don't have enough members to stop every driver doing something stupid. They would be sooo busy!

[twobits]

Makes me angry every time I see a lapdog in front of a steering wheel if I am not even allowed to hold a phone to my ear while driving. If one cares to drill right down to the ambiguity of our distracted driving laws.......beverage consumption.....coffee included....as well as any kid of eating is technically distracted driving. Laws should be applied equally or re written to be reflective of modern society.
Banning texting is obvious. Answering a phone call with one hand is no different to me than having a conversation with a person in the passenger seat. It makes no sense to me but I refrain because that is the regulation. I see dozens of lap dogs every day. I would be hard pressed to say I see more than one or two a day on their phones.

[my5cents]

When I heard and read in the media about someone getting a ticket "for having their dog on their lap", I was interested in what really happened.

The quote in the news item was "Holding a dog while driving earned a Burnaby driver a $109 fine last week."

Leaving readers to understand, oh yes, someone got a ticket for the offense of "driving with dog on lap". Well, except there is no such charge.

Some then took issue with the mention of the "$109 fine". "That's too low, it should be the same as it is for driving distracted with an electronic device".

OK, we all agree that it's stupid to drive with a dog (or any other animal) on your lap, even more so if it's a kid, being that a kid has to be properly secured and not in the front seat.

But before we go all nuts about "the fine should be the same", etc etc. In other words the Motor Vehicle Act is wrong in assessing the fine too low, we should realize, we aren't being told the full story here.

Some history.....

We have always (or at least in the last 70 plus years) a law that says it is illegal to drive distracted. It wasn't worded that way. There are actually two sections that cover such acts under the Motor Vehicle Act of BC. https://www.bclaws.gov.bc.ca/civix/docu ... g/96318_00

Currently (the section numbers change over time as new laws are added) they are:

• Careless driving prohibited
  144 (1)A person must not drive a motor vehicle on a highway
  
  • (a)without due care and attention,
    
    (b)without reasonable consideration for other persons using the highway

There is a section "(c)" as well but it's a less serious charge and it's for driving too fast for conditions. In other words driving within the speed limit, but at a time when even that is too fast for road or weather conditions.

Both "Driving Without Due Care" and "Driving Without Reasonable Consideration" are punishable by a $368 fine and 6 demerit points.

If the person driving with his dog on his lap was charged with Driving Without Due Care for having the dog on his lap, the fine would have been $368, the same dollar amount as distracted driving by using an electronic device. In fact Driving Without Due Care and it's sister charge Driving Without Reasonable Consideration come with 6 points, distracted driving using an electronic device is the same dollar amount but the points are only 4.

If you check the fines for all the usual traffic offenses that come with a $109 fine, you won't find, "Driving with dog on lap", in fact there are no distracted driving charges that come with a $109 fine.

The driver wasn't given a ticket for the dog, he was given a ticket for whatever offense he committed while the dog was on his lap. An unsafe lane change, disobeying a yellow light, unsafe lane change, etc etc etc.