Speed

Information related to vehicle speed and speeding.

RESOURCE - Toolkits for Traffic Problem Solving

ReThink LogoTransportation Alternatives' mission is to "reclaim New York City from cars, transforming our streets into safe, sustainable, and equitable places to walk, bike, take transit, gather, and thrive." To advance that mission the group has furnished two freely available toolkits to assist the public in making their neighbourhoods a safer place.

POLL - Automated Speed Enforcement

intersection camera warning signA poll conducted by Research Co. last September found that more than three of five British Columbia residents agree with four different types of automated speed enforcement. Fixed speed cameras (76%), Speed on Green intersection cameras (72%), mobile speed cameras (66%) and finally point to point  speed enforcement cameras (61%) were surveyed.

CASE LAW - R v Tschampa

BC Courts Coat of ArmsThe case of R v Tschampa involves the appeal of a speeding ticket conviction in Prince George traffic court. Paige Tschampa was ticketed for driving at a speed of 70 km/h in a posted 50 km/h zone by CN Police Service. She disputed the ticket and was subsequently convicted by the sitting judicial justice.

VIDEO - Road Guy Rob on Traffic Calming Gone Wrong

VideoRoad Guy Rob is a civil engineer who delights in explaining traffic engineering to the public. Although he is based in California, some of the information contained in his videos applies equally well here in British Columbia. In this episode he looks at a traffic calming project that went wrong. He asks the question "Have you ever seen a street get a DUI?"

Overdriving Low Beam Headlights

headlightsHave you ever given any thought to how far you can see at night as you are driving along down the highway? High beam headlights seem to overpower the dark, but there are a lot of situations where we are limited to using just the low beams. I was required to calculate the safe speed using only low beam headlights at a seminar and I was surprised at the result.

Speed Limits

70 km/h Speed SignA reader asks: "If the posted speed limits on our roadways are not just suggestions, why are they not enforced? If we are permitted to drive above the posted limit, how far above, and if so, how is anyone ever cited for speeding?"

CASE LAW - R v Vershinin

BC Courts Coat of ArmsAdrian Vershinin was issued an Intersection Safety Camera ticket for speeding. He disputed the ticket and a trial was held in the North Vancouver provincial court before Administrative Judicial Justice Hayes. Mr. Vershinin argued that the image of the B.C. flag on the licence plate was too indistinct to allow the enforcement officer to determine that it was a B.C. licence plate.

CASE LAW - R v Francisco

BC Courts Coat of ArmsThe case of R v Francisco involves a collision on June 7, 2019 in Burnaby that resulted in the death of a pedestrian, Louise Landreth. Roberto Francisco was driving a BMW sedan erratically over a period of about one hour and twenty minutes until a collision at high speed resulted in a loss of control and Ms. Landreth being struck and killed.

Measuring Vehicle Speeds With Laser

Laser GunHave you ever wondered about the instruments that the police use to measure vehicle speeds on our highways? My favourite tool was LIDAR because it gave me the ability to accurately measure the speeds of individual vehicles. Although the laser must be used from a stationary position, either hand held or on a tripod, being able to target a specific vehicle made it superior to RADAR on a busy highway.