Collisions

In what may be one of the ultimate Tonka toy dreams, I was lucky enough to participate in a training session where we were tipping heavy trucks over on purpose. The adventure, spearheaded by Eric Brewer, took place on a dormant runway at the Boundary Bay airport that is used by government agencies for driver training and collision reconstruction testing.

In this article Paul describes a David vs Goliath case where Frank Kristen disagreed with the ICBC claims adjuster finding him 100% at fault for a collision. Mr. Kristen proceeded to a Claims Assessment Review where the adjudicator agreed with the claims adjuster. The final step was to have the issue heard before the court and the case against ICBC was commenced.

Not all collision litigation resulting from crashes on our highways involve motor vehicles. In this case, the collision occurred between Rosario Perilli, a jogger, and Wendy Marlow, a 10 year old youth riding a bicycle. Mr. Perilli fell to the ground in his attempt to avoid the collision and suffered injuries, including one to his shoulder that required surgery to repair.

This is a case where a runaway snowmobile collided with Angelo Passerin who had stopped to help another rider whose snowmobile was stuck in deep snow. In a way, this is an example of the perfect storm as the riderless snowmobile went over a 33 meter cliff, climbed out of a ravine and ran for more than a kilometer before striking Passerin.

Last week we looked at how we might define a bad driver. Views were varied, but there were two well thought out responses that did more than just express an opinion. This week, let's look at how bad drivers pay for the risk that they present to others using our highways.

Misbehaving and incompetent drivers get off too easy in the media. How many times have you seen news headlines like these?

Douglas Heuring was riding his bicycle eastbound on 13 street approaching Grand Boulevard East in North Vancouver, B.C. He stopped for the stop sign about 10 feet back from the marked stop line at the intersection.

Data BC's data catalogue contains 20 datasets for RoadSafetyBC that include a wide variety of data about motor vehicle collisions in our province. It also contains sets for Immediate Roadside Prohibitions (IRP), vehicle impounds and other driving prohibitions.

If you have been following the news this week you will know that the Capital Regional District Traffic Safety Commission has proposed time over distance speed cameras in an attempt to reduce serious collisions on the Malahat Highway.

From Sweden, the home of Vision Zero, the Vision Zero Academy "provides a general and more detailed view of Vision Zero, and the effects it has. The academy contains articles and different types of information that illustrate Vision Zero from a variety of starting points. It also contains examples of how the concepts and approach of Vision Zero have gained a foothold, in both countries outside Sweden as well as in other circumstances."