Gig workers want change after B.C. court rules accepting orders amounts to distracted driving

Delivery and rideshare workers and advocates are urging the B.C. government to review its distracted driving laws following a B.C. Supreme Court ruling that determined accepting a delivery order on a phone while driving is illegal.

The case involved Vancouver-based Uber Eats driver Vasu Subhashbhai Virda, who was ticketed on July 31, 2024, for tapping his phone to accept a delivery order while driving.

Virda testified that he had tapped the screen once to accept a delivery offer through the Uber Eats app, which he said he had to respond to within five seconds.

Initially, a judge acquitted Virda in September, citing the Motor Vehicle Act's allowance for a single touch on a properly mounted electronic device. However, the Crown successfully appealed the decision.

Last month, Justice Wendy A. Baker ruled that the law only permits a single tap on a device to answer phone calls and not for other functions like using apps. Virda was levied a $295 fine, reduced from the standard $368 and was given six months to pay it.

In her written ruling, Baker noted Virda's credibility, acknowledging he was "operating as safely as he could within the parameters of his job," but stressed the need to uphold the law as written.

Kuljeet Singh, who has been driving with Uber for the last five years, says he has been on the receiving end of multiple distracted driving tickets.  

He says the ruling puts drivers in a difficult position, especially as the job relies heavily on phone-based apps.

"We are losing money if we don't accept it and if we accept it, then we get tickets," Singh said.

Distracted driving tickets in B.C. come with a $368 fine and four penalty points, according to ICBC. 

Such penalty points are like black marks on a person's driving record, says Singh, explaining that accumulating too many can deter employers from offering jobs.

"Put some more regulations in place so we don't have to suffer [and face] these problems every day," he urged.

Vancouver-based criminal lawyer Kyla Lee says the legislation was not written with the gig economy in mind. 

"It has been around for 15 years now with absolutely no changes to bring it up to speed with the current ways that we use technology," she said. "[It] doesn't make a lot of sense because it's no more dangerous to touch your phone to answer a call than it is to touch your phone and [accept an order]."