DriveSmartBC

35 intersection cameras in British Columbia are being upgraded to perform automated speed enforcement in addition to penalizing red light runners.

In my travels this week I was overtaken by a marked police vehicle travelling at 110 km/h in the posted 90 km/h zone. No emergency equipment was being operated. Instances like this are often complained about by the public as they see the police failing to follow the same traffic rules that they force everyone else to obey.

Tejveer Parmar was ticketed for speeding on Kittson Parkway in Delta. He testified at trial that another driver had continually pulled in front of his vehicle and braked. He decided that the only opportunity available to him was to exceed the posted speed limit and pass this vehicle in order merge safely into traffic. The traffic court justice convicted him for traveling 81 km/h in the 50 km/h zone.

This all started with a simple question from my e-mail: "Are right turn lanes allowed at 4 way stop intersections?" The story evolved as I asked questions to try and understand the situation before answering here. It turns out to involve the intersection of Trail Avenue and Cowrie Street in Sechelt.

Question: I was driving down Pinetree Way in Coquitlam and had a slow driver in front of me, maybe driving about 25 to 30 km/h. After passing the intersection of Tanager Court, I overtook a slow car over a single solid yellow line since there was no other traffic on both sides and it was safe to do so.

On the 14th of November, 2015 at about 9:00 am, Ken Chung was operating an Audi northbound on Oak Street approaching West 41st Avenue in Vancouver. Evidence suggested that his speed was about 140 km/h in the 50 km/h zone.

The RCMP's advanced driver training course was without a doubt the most fun of any course many of the participants had taken in their service. What the majority of the course taught us was to be aware of the location of all four corners of our vehicles in relation to everything around us on the track.

Ian Tootill was convicted on a charge of loud and unnecessary exhaust system noise pursuant to Section 7A.01 of the Motor Vehicle Act Regulations by Judicial Justice Lim in traffic court. He was operating his Harley Davidson motorcycle on Beach Avenue in Vancouver and was stopped by Constable Bercic of the VPD.

Q: We know why they do it.... but what legal authority do break down vehicles have to block (cone off) a whole lane on the highway one when the stall is on the shoulder?

@KostelecPlan asked a couple of good questions on Twitter this week. He wanted to know what the distracted driving laws in BC are and would I share my thoughts on media outlets using video footage submitted by distracted drivers in their news stories.