Vasu Virda is a delivery driver for Uber Eats in Vancouver. When he is sent a delivery offer by the company he must accept it by tapping the Uber Eats app on his cellphone. He did this while being observed by Officer Kim who issued a traffic ticket for using an electronic device while driving.
Mr. Virda disputed the ticket and went to trial in front of Judicial Justice Makhdoom. The Justice found that Mr. Virda found him not guilty because the Motor Vehicle Act allowed a person using a handheld cellphone to touch it once while they were operating a vehicle.
Use of Electronic Devices While Driving Regulation
7 (1) Subject to section 6 and subsection (2), a person may use an electronic device in a hands-free telephone function while driving or operating a motor vehicle on a highway, if the device
(b) is voice-activated or requires only one touch in order to initiate, accept or end a call,
Argument to the Contrary Not Successful
Officer Kim attempted to explain that this only applied to accepting a cellphone voice call and did not include using an app. The Justice did not accept the argument because he had already acquitted Mr. Virda.
Appeal of the Acquittal
The Crown appealed saying that the Justice had erred on two grounds. The first is that the law does not permit the use of the Uber app in this situation and the second is that the Justice made his decision before hearing from Officer Kim.
Cellphone Voice Call Exemption
Justice Baker agreed that Section 7 of the regulations only permitted the one touch exemption to apply to cellphone voice calls and not the use of an app.
She also found that Justice Makhdoom did not hear submissions from both parties at the original trial.
On that basis she set aside the original acquittal and entered a conviction because she was satisfied that there was enough evidence at the original trial to do so.
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