DriveSmartBC

The majority of this issue features information on child restraints. It reinforces the idea that children secured in child restraints are safer that children secured by seat belts alone, describes what good belt fit looks like and how 60 seats rate for lap and shoulder belt fit.

Road safety resources from around the world may be useful to drivers in B.C. After all, the task of driving skillfully and responsibly is the same no matter where you are. This site contains something of interest for everyone, from the driver to enforcement to government. Take a look.

Welcome to the 2010 Olympics held at Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada! The important question on everyone's mind is "how do we get around once we arrive (or if we live here)?" Significant planning has gone into a comprehensive traffic plan for the games that includes all methods of transit from Skytrain to bus to taxi to cyclists and even pedestrians!

If I could give all of you one gift this Christmas it would be a year's worth of safe driving. For those of us here in British Columbia that would mean more than one driver a day would not die, 81 people would not be injured and 69 property damage collisions would not occur. Imagine that.

Are you considering the purchase of a new vehicle in 2010? This issue of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety's Status Report examines rollover protection and eSafety systems in new vehicles. It also lists 27 top safety picks for the 2010 model year.

I've had a couple of regular correspondents ask me recently about night driving glasses. These glasses have yellow lenses and are supposed to cut glare and increase contrast allowing you to see better in the darkness. After a bit of research, it appears that using these glasses is not a good idea.

I'm always amazed at the amount of poorly qualified or outright incorrect information on the web when I search for traffic enforcement related information. One popular topic that seems especially mistreated is disclosure of the Crown's evidence prior to trial.

When I was posted to Fort St. John detachment, the decision was easy, our family car had four studded winter tires. Once I was transferred to Penticton, these tires went with the car when we traded it in and we used all season tires throughout the year. Now that we live on Vancouver Island, we've come full circle and just purchased a set of four studded winter tires.

In the time that I have been writing this column I have accumulated many different topics. The requests have been varied, but I must admit, I never would have come up with this week's topic myself. A reader has asked about vehicles owned by dead people.

The Canadian Association of Road Safety Professionals has released the latest issue of the Canadian Traffic Safety Digest. The publication is a compilation of traffic safety information from across Canada and is updated monthly.