DriveSmartBC

The BCAA Road Safety Foundation has a new web site and a new URL: www.bcaaroadsafety.com. The new site provides information in five areas; Drivers, Child Passenger Safety, School Safety, Professionals and Resources. Of particular interest is the Drivers section with information aimed specifically at teen drivers, parents of teen drivers, older drivers and medically at risk drivers.

In the past a closely spaced procession of slow moving vehicles with headlights on in the daytime usually meant a funeral. Today's daytime running lights make it difficult to decide if a line of vehicles is a funeral procession or not. The lead and final official funeral vehicles may use a flashing purple light when in procession.

An LED sign system has been installed on a sharp curve on the Skagit Bluffs area of Highway 3 about 40 km west of Hope. The curve is the site of repeated collisions due to drivers that fail to slow sufficiently.

In January 2011 CVSE announced that an alternative to conventional tire chains was now being allowed in British Columbia for commercial vehicles. The bulletin said that the use of pneumatic automatically deployed tire chains for commercial vehicles will fulfill the requirements of section 208 of the Motor Vehicle Act.

The number of red light cameras at dangerous intersections in British Columbia will increase by more than four times by summer. Going from 30 to 140, the new digital cameras will be placed at intersections identified by their high crash rates that produce injury and fatal collisions.

The BC Government has announced that the Commercial Vehicle Safety & Enforcement inspectors now have enhanced authority under the Motor Vehicle Act to administer Designated Inspection Facilities and to cancel the authorization of inspectors who fail to follow policy or the provisions of the Motor Vehicle Act Regulations.

British Columbia will have Canada's toughest impaired driving penalties when new laws become effective on September 20, 2010. The limits of zero for new drivers, 50 mg% (.05) for a 24 hour suspension and 80 mg% (.08) for criminal impaired driving charge have not changed, rather the penalties for those who disregard them have become much harsher.

Transport Canada announced that the Government of Canada will be undertaking a review of the safety standards for 15 passenger vans. These vehicles are typically used for extracurricular school activities and have been involved in serious collisions often attributed to rollover stability.

B.C.'s Commercial Vehicle Safety and Enforcement (CVSE) has implemented a program aimed at removing commercial vehicles with serious equipment defects from our highways. The program applies to commercial vehicles with a GVW over 5,000 kg that are part of the National Safety Code Program.

Line-marking crews have begun the annual task of refreshing markings on highways across British Columbia to help provide a safer drive for motorists.