Speed

Information related to vehicle speed and speeding.

VIDEO - 120 MPH Crash Test

VideoJoin the folks at Fifth Gear as they crash a Ford Focus into a barrier at 120 mph or 193 km/h. After you take a look at the result, remember that a two vehicle head on crash at freeway speeds here in BC is somewhat the same. Two vehicles coming together at 100 KM/H each is the energy equivalent of this car striking the barrier at 200 km/h. Regardless of the circumstances, you don't want this to happen to you.

No Laser, No Radar, is the Ticket Valid?

gavel imageI was issued a ticket for Speed Against a Municipal Sign for driving over 30km/hr in a playground zone. The officer had no laser and no radar; she flagged me over, saying "The speed limit here is 30--you were not doing 30." I can't say whether I was doing 31 or 51; my best guess based on the location I was pulled over would be somewhere between 30-40. What does the law say surrounding this?

Determining Vehicle Speed from Yaw Marks

Yaw Striations in Tire MarkWhen a vehicle is in yaw it is rotating around a vertical axis through it's center of mass. The long, curved Y shaped marks left by the tires on the pavement were characteristic of this motion. If they were striated and of constantly diminishing radius they were of great interest for collision reconstruction because the vehicle's speed could be determined from them.

Speed Kills, or Does it?

Speeding"Speed Kills!" is a popular road safety slogan that we hear often. It's pretty simplistic and when I look around me on the highway I am convinced that drivers either don't believe it or live in a world of denial. Speed alone doesn't kill, but combine it with poor driving skills or a bad decision and it definitely makes a bad situation worse.

PROGRAMS - 20's Plenty for Us

20's Plenty LogoThis web site supports a campaign for 20 mph speed limits in residential areas of Britain. The idea behind the movement is to bring pedestrians and cyclists back onto the streets, reduce injury if a collision occurs and showing that the reduction in speed costs motorists very little time.