VIDEO - Motorcycle Reconstruction

VideoAnother great slow motion video from Australia's Transport Accident Commission (TAC). The public education campaign targets two of Victoria's biggest issues in road safety -- motorcycle safety and speed. The campaign, titled "Reconstruction", features a slow motion replay of a crash involving a motorcyclist and a car.

Should My Driving Record be Available to the Public?

AngelYesterday's edition of the Victoria Times Colonist newspaper contained an article about Justice Minister Shirley Bond considering making the driving record of B.C. drivers public knowledge. The idea is that if conventional methods of convincing drivers to follow the driving rules are not successful, then it is time to find other solutions. This one would be aimed at embarrassing a non-compliant driver publicly.

CASE LAW - R v Alexander

BC Courts Coat of ArmsBrian Alexander was stopped for excessive speeding in Kamloops, B.C. He was issued a traffic ticket for excessive speed and police attempted to impound his vehicle for seven days as required by the Motor Vehicle Act. Mr. Alexander responded that he had no intention of giving up his vehicle, sat inside it and refused to get out when required to do so by the officer.

Q&A - Mixed Pedestrian Controls at Intersections

Pedestrian CrossingI'm wondering what the law in BC is for pedestrians on the axis of an intersection that has no pedestrian control lights. An example in Vancouver would be Main Street at 10th Avenue. There are vehicle control lights on the North-South axis and pedestrian control lights on the East-West axis, but not on the North-South axis.

Q&A - Stopping for Emergency Vehicles

Q&A ImageQUESTION: When driving I noticed a police car with flashing light following the vehicle that was following me. I pulled over - the car behind me went by followed by the police vehicle - who put on his siren on a little ways up the street. Was I right by pulling over for flashing lights. My husband says I should have kept driving until the police used the siren.... who is right?

VISION ZERO INITIATIVE - A Different Approach from Sweden

Vision Zero Initiative Logo"Any loss of life in traffic is unacceptable." This is the philosophy of traffic safety in Sweden. The Vision Zero Initiative sets an ultimate target of no deaths or serious injuries on Sweden’s roads, and is not merely content to reduce accidents to an economically manageable level. The focus is on the system, not only the driver and has been incorporated into national law.

Q&A - Learner from Outside BC - Do I Need to Display an L?

New Driver Signs 2011My husband and I are planning to take the 14 hour drive from Peace country down to the okanagan, on to vancouver and back to alberta for the long weekend in May. I'm super excited to visit my small home town and be able to drive around in it. We got to talking and I can't find anything anywhere stating I'm not allowed to drive in B.C.

Beware the Flower Clown and Other Roadside Characters

Cst. Martell in disguiseI would imagine that your opinion of police traffic surveillance tactics probably depends a lot on whether you are the recipient of a ticket or not because of them. You may have actually seen Corporal Smith in Nanaimo dressed up as the Easter Bunny or Constable Martell of Kelowna wearing a hoodie and holding up a sign made of cardboard. They certainly got to see a lot of traffic violators and provided information to pick up teams a bit further down the road.

Q&A - HOV Lane Speed Limits

Q&A ImageQuestion: I am having difficulty with HOV Lanes and speed limits. Here are two different scenarios that I'm curious about and a comment about (non) enforcement of the speed limit during rush hour. I am uncomfortable using the HOV lane due to the dangerous behaviour of drivers overtaking me from the rear when I follow the speed limit.