Keep Back From Fire Trucks

Fire TruckFire trucks have a special privilege granted to no other emergency vehicle in British Columbia. You must not follow them within 150 meters or 500 feet unless you are also driving an emergency vehicle. Having never been a firefighter I was curious and thought that I would ask the experts and find out why this rule exists.

Q&A - Unsecured Shipping Container

Q&A ImageI'm a class 1 driver and haul containers around the Port of Vancouver. I was given a ticket by a CVSE officer for having 1 of my 4 twist locks undone. (Twist locks are on each corner of the trailer and they lock down the container to the trailer). I'm not planning on denying it was undone and he took pictures anyways, I'm just wanting to know the likelyhood that a deal could be made on the court date.

Bicycle Lanes, Signs and Markings

Bike Route SignA reader from Vancouver asked me where the rules came from for bicycle lanes and signs as they could not be found in the provincial driving manual, Learn to Drive Smart. Included in the e-mail was a link to the City of Vancouver's web site which showed a collection of signs and markings that are now in use on the city streets there. I didn't think that this was going to be a tough question!

Photo Radar is Effective

photo radar warning signI spent most of my policing career as a traffic cop. Yes, I have an outlook that many in the public don't share, but they haven't spent 25 years investigating collisions and seeing the aftermath either. Thank goodness for that, but maybe our politicians need a bit of experience similar to my own to change their viewpoint on photo radar.

VIDEO - Reconstruction

video iconReconstruction is part of Australia's Wipe Off 5 anti-speeding campaign. It demonstrates how slowing down by 5 km/h can drastically reduce the consequences of a collision. In contrast, one might think about many driver's tendencies to say that 10 over isn't a problem because the police don't write speeding tickets for that little over the limit. The ticket might be the least of your problems if your speed is the cause of a collision.

RESOURCE - 15 Passenger Van Operation

ReThink LogoThis 17 page document from the Canadian Council of Motor Transport Administrators examines safety in three key areas of the operation of 15 passenger vans: personal use, commercial use and the transportation of students. Much of the information that it contains should already be common practice for all drivers. Review is critically important because these vehicles are not as forgiving of negligence or mistakes as normal passenger vehicles may be.