DriveSmartBC

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. There is one more method of setting a smaller blanket speed zone and that is through the use of an area sign.

The case of Chang v Alcuaz examines an intersection collision where the drivers approached each other at right angles. Both claim that they were facing a green light when they proceeded into the intersection. It is interesting to see how the judge determines which driver had actually faced a green traffic signal.

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.

This case determines liability following a collision that took place between vehicles driven by Claudio Nonis and Stefano Granata at the intersection of Hastings Street and Madison Avenue in Vancouver, B.C.

Amid the chaos of a collision scene this afternoon came a call over the police radio: "grab that vehicle, it just drove around the cones and into oncoming traffic!" Not only did the emergency workers have to deal with a two vehicle collision in an intersection full of emergency vehicles, they also had to contend with drivers who were going through no matter what.

There is a mid-block pedestrian controlled light in our neighborhood and drivers frequently proceed through it after stopping if no one is in the cross walk. Is this legal?

Ask most drivers in B.C. and they will tell you that when you are facing a red traffic light, you must stop and stay stopped until the light turns green. The exception that may be raised is when you are making a permitted left or right turn and have come to a complete stop first and yielded as necessary.

This is a case of failing to stop for a red light with evidence produced from a red light camera. Mr. Eged, a lawyer, attempts to have the charge quashed by showing (a) The Certificate of Vehicle Ownership -- Exhibit 2, admitted into the evidence, does not meet requirements of s.82.1 of the Act; (b) the “Enforcement Officer’s Certificate” -- Exhibit 1, does not meet requirements set out in s. 83.1 of the Act, and that the illegibility of the licence plate cannot be saved by an Enforcement Officer’s certification; and, (c) the licence plate photographed is silent with respect to jurisdiction.

The large diamond shaped sign shows a black arrow on a yellow background telling drivers of a curve ahead. Underneath it is a smaller square sign with black lettering on a yellow background showing a speed of 30 km/h. This sign and others similar to it are classed as advisory signs by the Motor Vehicle Act Regulations.

With all the power outages in the past few weeks there have been a lot of intersections where traffic lights are out. Would you please remind everyone of the 4-way stop procedure that it seems most have forgotten or never learned.

How about an article about the magnetic circles (or rhomboids) in the roadbed ahead of many traffic lights? Most drivers don't know what they are for and quite often stop way ahead of them.