Speed

I just got home from my week of driving and today I received a ticket for "Slow Driving" which I don't understand or agree with.

Chelsea Fisher was driving westbound on 43 Avenue just past 32 Street in Vernon. She was approaching the intersection where traffic for the mall entered onto 43 Avenue in a T intersection to her right. Robert Karol had stopped at the stop sign to exit the mall parking lot and intended to turn left onto 43 Avenue. He proceeded from the stop sign, did not yield to Ms. Fisher and a collision resulted.

Canadian drivers seem to agree that speeding is a dangerous action. It increases the possibility of collision, injury and death on our highways. However, most drivers have a fairly elastic view of how the speed limits apply to themselves with the majority (7 in 10) reporting that they occasionally exceed the speed limit. Regardless, there is significant public support for anti-speeding measures.

Section control is a method of speed enforcement involving a series of cameras installed over a stretch of road. An image and data are recorded for each vehicle as they enter and leave two points in the system (a section of road).

This case involves a speeding ticket dispute. Mr. Lambert was the second of two vehicles, the first measured in radar at 130 km/h and his at 126 km/h. Mr. Lambert raised a number of issues common to lay people making a dispute.

In this B.C. Supreme Court case Mr. Lambert is appealing his conviction on a traffic ticket for speeding at 126 km/h in a posted 90 km/h speed zone. He raised the following points in his appeal:

A friend of mine just received a speeding ticket and she has some questions about it. The description of offence says "speed signs", ACT is "MVA" and section is "146(7)". What does this mean? She says it is supposed to be a speeding ticket but she doesn't think the actual speed was recorded.

"Speed management is a significant challenge for most communities. This is particularly true for small, rural communities where the main roadway through the town serves a dual role.

Speed has been identified as a key risk factor in road traffic injuries, influencing both the risk of a road traffic crash as well as the severity of the injuries that result from crashes. For instance, pedestrians have a 90% chance of survival if hit by a car traveling at a speed of 30km/h or below, but less than a 50% chance of surviving an impact of 45km/h or above.

This is my favourite anti-speeding video! It was an Australian television commercial produced for the Roads and Traffic Authority of New South Wales. I use it regularly to try to get people to think about why taking 10 km/h above the posted limit is not a good decision when things go wrong.