Watch: Driver in Kelowna issued distracted driving ticket after phone slips out of console

A driver passing through Kelowna learned a hard lesson that even holding your phone for “less than 10 seconds” could result in a distracted driving ticket.

Brenton Klause challenged the ticket in traffic court. A judicial justice sided with the RCMP officer and ordered him to pay the $275 fine.

Klause received the ticket on a trip from Victoria to Saskatchewan. He stayed in Kelowna for one night to do some antiquing.

He first went to the Value Village in West Kelowna. He then planned to travel to the Value Village in Rutland and plugged its address into the GPS on his phone.

The phone was placed in the console slot of the driver’s vehicle and Klause relied on Google Earth for directions.

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While driving along Harvey and Richter in his 2003 van, Klause told the court the driver in front of him slammed on the brakes which resulted in his phone slipping out of the console slot.

He then picked up the phone and put it back, but not before catching the eye of a Kelowna RCMP officer, who pulled him over and issued him a ticket for distracted driving.

Klause said he was not texting or communicating on the device—only putting it back after it fell. He testified the phone was in his hand for less than 10 seconds.

Const. Troy Bevan, the officer who issued the ticket, told the justice there was no evidence of Klause texting or notes of his lips moving. But the constable did state the phone was found in Klause’s right hand above the center console.

He also testified all vehicles were stopped in traffic along Harvey and Richter at the time of the incident.

When handing down a decision, Judicial Justice Brian Burgess noted because the phone was being used for navigational purposes, the phone needed to be properly secured inside the vehicle in order to comply with the Motor Vehicle Act.

“As I understand Mr. Klause’s evidence, it was not secured to the motor vehicle as when he had to abruptly apply his brakes, the device slid from where it was requiring Mr. Klause to pick it up. So simply having it in hand even momentarily is holding it in a position which it may be used,” Burgess said in his decision. “Based on the evidence before me, Crown has proven its case beyond a reasonable doubt and I find Mr. Klause guilty of this offence.”

The justice ordered Klause to pay a $275 distracted driving fine for the offence.