Miscellaneous

I found myself waiting for a red light behind another vehicle this week. That vehicle's driver had his window down, his elbow on the sill and was holding what was left of his cigarette between left thumb and forefinger. I knew exactly what was going to happen: one last drag on the butt and flick, away it went into the ditch.

Have you ever stopped to consider the risk involved in handing your keys over to someone else? As the owner of a vehicle, you have significant responsibility for it when someone else is using it. Even if you were not present, something nasty can still come back and bite you.

This case involves an instance of road rage involving two drivers, Michael Henderson and Jacqueline McGregor on Highway 99 near the George Massey Tunnel in the Lower Mainland. At the conclusion of the trial, Mr. Justice Walker found that Ms. McGregor had committed an unprovoked assault on Mr. Henderson and assessed almost $35,000 in damages.

Emperatriz Cool was stopped in Richmond, B.C. for the offence of using an electronic device while driving. Cst. Schmidt had obtained her driver's licence after speaking with her and then issued a violation ticket. She disputed the ticket, making a no evidence motion at the close of Crown's case. She suggested that Cst. Schmidt had failed to properly identify her as the driver.

As BC moves to test alternative methods of transportation using vehicles that would have been forbidden on the highway in past, this document will be interesting reading. It examines the traffic safety of pedal cycles, electrically assisted cycles and electrically powered personal mobility devices such as e-scooters, whether owned or shared, in an urban context.

This is a unique case that has created a bit of a media buzz since it's release. Gabriel Milne was driving on the Malahat Highway near Langford and chose to pass a small tourist bus that had slowed aggressively in front of him. He changed lanes to do this and during the lane change noticed a transport truck that was overtaking him move into the left lane as well.

When I was posted in the Okanagan in the 1990s I was answering phones in the detachment dispatch office. A caller from Summerland asked what would happen if he decided to take his protest sign down to the highway and conduct his own personal blockade. He expressed the opinion that if he did that the police would arrive quickly and if he did not move he would be removed.

Holland has a serious pollution problem from nitrogen oxides and particulate matter in the air. The air pollution levels are above those permitted by European law and are mainly caused by motor vehicle traffic and factories.

This inquiry arrived in the DriveSmartBC inbox last Thursday: "I bought a used newer truck from a dealership and was told prior to signing the final documents that the truck had gone through a full safety inspection. Less than two weeks later I was pulled over and issued a ticket for improperly equipped motor vehicle and issued a box 2 inspection order for my 2017 Dodge Ram 3500."

Our streets, particularly in business and residential districts, are slowly becoming thought of as more than just a place to drive motor vehicles. Citizens are engaging their governments and demanding that streets be re-developed into multi-user spaces that are shared with the entire community.