B.C. Uber Eats driver who tapped app while driving convicted on appeal

A B.C. Uber Eats driver who tapped his app for the delivery service once while driving has had his acquittal overturned on appeal.

Vasu Virda was acquitted in provincial court in Vancouver on Sept. 12, after being charged last summer with using an electronic device while driving. But prosecutors appealed to the B.C. Supreme Court.

An officer testified he saw Virda tap the screen of his cellphone twice while he was stopped at a light. However, Virda said he only tapped the screen once, to respond to a delivery offer from his company.

He said that he needed to answer the offer within five seconds and, by tapping the app once, he was able to accept the offer, according to court documents.

In her appeal decision released this week, Supreme Court Justice Wendy Baker said Virda is credible and that she accepts he was doing his job and operating as safely as he could within the parameters of his job.

Virda told the court that the B.C. law is not fair to people like Uber Eats drivers and taxi drivers who require their devices to do their job.

However, Baker said she could not rewrite the legislation, so she must apply the law as it is written.

Baker said there’s no dispute Virda was using the Uber Eats app and was touching the screen to respond on the Uber app.

The judicial justice in the lower court acquitted Virda because the legislation permits a person operating a hand-held electronic device to touch their device once while they are operating a vehicle.

However, the officer and prosecutors argued the law allows a single tap only to answer a hand-free telephone call and not to operate an app, according to Baker’s decision.

Baker agreed and overturned the lower court acquittal.

However, she accepted that Virda was not intending to break the law and was intending to operate safely.

“I absolutely accept what you say. However, I must apply the law as it is written and, as a result, I must unfortunately convict you under the section,” she wrote.

Baker ordered he pay the minimum fine of $295 over the course of six months.

ticrawford@postmedia.com?