I never know what is going to wind up in my DriveSmartBC inbox, but it is bound to be entertaining, interesting, thought provoking or just plain letting off steam at an easy target. I read them all, try to reply with reason and civility and often use them as the basis for an article.
Here are some of the latest examples:
Eliminating Human Error
"I canât wait till autonomous vehicles dominate our roads. Eliminate the human error factor and we might reduce collisions by 99%."
Being about half a decade away from being designated as a senior citizen, I wonder if I will see at time in my driving career where the vehicles on the road are even a 50 - 50 mix of autonomous and human drivers. There is no doubt that technology is entering some part of our transportation system regularly. If you are interested, Traffic Technology International is a digital magazine that explains the cutting edge of these technologies.
DriveSmartBC is not ICBC
DriveSmartBC is often mistaken for ICBC, particularly with the Practice Knowledge Test currently being publicized.
I hope you would like feedback about your on-line Drive Smart Test. I am a woman aged 69, driving since I turned 16. Things have changed so I thought this test would be a good refresher. Unfortunately I feel the real challenges were not addressed. I have been giving this some consideration for some time now. A TV campaign similar to what the the Olympics did to teach us about the different sports. Eg. One teaching module a month stickman/car driving situation explained.
It's a pretty good idea but ICBC has started removing their old RoadSense Tips videos from YouTube. You may wish to check out Smart Drive Test instead.
Opposing Points of View
On the other hand I can find myself in the crosshairs:
With the greatest of respect, you are a typical Canadian nanny-state cop (ex-cop in your case). Your writing frequently annoys me by waffling on about âexcess speedingâ when in numerous cases I find the speed limits here in BC ridiculously low. Why donât the road engineers post the limits at the 85th percentile of traffic speeds? THAT is what people drive at anyway, so why post speeds that people will ignore? This makes a mockery of posted limits.
I could go on and on about how the police here often target the wrong people, merely because they are the easiest to catch and ticket, rather than those that make the majority frustrated and angry, which then turns THEM into dangerous drivers as a result.
These two views are probably the most often repeated. To give this gentleman even more ammunition, I'm going to observe that many people are quite happy to express a viewpoint but seldom back it up with anything other than emotion. Most have no idea what the police issue tickets for, but perhaps know what they receive tickets for and don't appreciate.
On the bright side, even though I annoy him frequently, he keeps reading...
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In response to the comment about âridiculously lowâ speed limits, my concern is the variability. As the meeting/event/sale will wait for me (and I allow for delays) my driving challenge is meeting speed limits that range from 50 to 90 on highways and 30 to ? on municipal roads. In the old days, there were two speeds - city and highway.
Sigh.
You know who I am. You pass me as I drive the speed limit (at least as per the last sign.)
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I must confess I read this guys remarks several times and my eyebrows raised each time. The only word that kept creeping from my lips was..... âreally.â
He is so wrong on so many levels it is scary to think heâs out there driving. His first mind set is speed, speed, speed. Apparently the few âothersâ frustrate and anger the âmajority.â If heâs that frustrated and gets that angry, then he shouldnât be driving, period. His answer to all his problems is faster, faster, faster! The key word here is âhisâ issues, I like to think most drivers are more tolerant and patient then he certainly is not.
How do you teach drivers like this that they are the problem? And travelling faster is certainly not the solution.
And I would dispute this fella knows the definition of ârespectâ as he claims in his statement because I read nothing that depicts such a manner.
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I like the idea of taking a section of the MVA and creating a info commercial around it. Section 151.1. comes to mind as one that should be the first targeted. Many people fail to observe. If you still have communications with any of the highway patrol officers it would also be helpful if you would advise them that the act does apply to them also.
I try to keep up on all changes and do take sample tests offered by ICBC and BCAA. I am also on ICBC list of people that get to provide feedback.
Recently I took the sample tests offered for a motorcycle licence. Have no intentions of ever getting one yet past with no problem. Must say I question anyone that has a drivers licence and fails the test. Are you really safe driving a car?
Maybe the police should look at the number of tickets issued and consider reducing that 39% for speeding and going after a few more regulations. People over the years have become sloppy. Far too many quote the fact they never speed as an example that they are excellent drivers. How many are breaking that other 61% of regulations seldom ticketed?
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Have no intentions of ever getting one yet past with no problem. Must say I question anyone that has a drivers licence and fails the test.
For the record, I failed it twice (2010) and have been driving since 1975, so failing the test is not conducive to âquestionâ those that possess a drivers licence.
I would suggest you took the simple, easy version (there are many) and lucky for you, got those multiple choice answers on the first guess. I would also suggest that if you have no intention to ride a motorcycle then you failed miserably to learn the complexity of actually riding a motorcycle.... anyone can be book smart.
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Ridiculously Low Speed Limits