Speed

After just coming back from a trip I thought I would see what you have to say about an issue that has been bugging me for some time. One can not drive very far without encountering one of what I call the crazies. The driver who drives like a fool, way too fast for either weather or road conditions, passing when its not safe, Etc. Etc.,and generally putting everyone in his or her path at risk.

As a knowledgeable driver you are aware of the three blanket speed limits that cover the whole province of British Columbia. These limits are 80 km/h outside a municipality, 50 km/h in a municipality and 20 km/h on a municipal lane.

Join the folks at Fifth Gear as they crash a Ford Focus into a barrier at 120 mph or 193 km/h. After you take a look at the result, remember that a two vehicle head on crash at freeway speeds here in BC is somewhat the same. Two vehicles coming together at 100 KM/H each is the energy equivalent of this car striking the barrier at 200 km/h. Regardless of the circumstances, you don't want this to happen to you.

I was issued a ticket for Speed Against a Municipal Sign for driving over 30 km/h in a playground zone. The officer had no laser and no radar. She flagged me over, saying "The speed limit here is 30, you were not doing 30." I can't say whether I was doing 31 or 51. My best guess based on the location I was pulled over would be somewhere between 30 to 40 km/h.

When a vehicle is in yaw it is rotating around a vertical axis through it's center of mass. The long, curved Y shaped marks left by the tires on the pavement were characteristic of this motion. If they were striated and of constantly diminishing radius they were of great interest for collision reconstruction because the vehicle's speed could be determined from them.

Question: I got a speeding ticket in Vancouver at the Georgia Viaduct. There were about 3-4 cars driving in front of my 5 ton truck when I got onto the viaduct from downtown. About 200-300 meters away the road forks into two, one to Prior and the other to Main.

Question: Our organization’s main office is located on a high traffic street with a playground across the street. Despite sign postings and increased police presence we are still having issues with people speeding up and down this small stretch of the street.

"Speed Kills!" is a popular road safety slogan that we hear often. It's pretty simplistic and when I look around me on the highway I am convinced that drivers either don't believe it or live in a world of denial. Speed alone doesn't kill, but combine it with poor driving skills or a bad decision and it definitely makes a bad situation worse.

Dynamic speed display signs are popping up beside B.C.'s Highways. They display the speed of passing vehicles above a sign showing the posted speed limit. Are these signs useful in persuading drivers to keep to the limit and if so, how effective are they?

In this case Allen Lukas appeals his conviction for speeding based on the visual observation of his vehicle's speed made by Cst. Neid of the Kelowna R.C.M.P. Detachment.