DriveSmartBC

The use of vehicle impoundment as part of an array of penalties to discourage improper driving behaviour will expand significantly when amendments to the Motor Vehicle Act become law on September 20, 2011. In every case the cost of the impoundment will be the responsibility of the owner of the vehicle.

This video, produced by ICBC, looks at why banning communication device use by drivers keeps our roads safer by keeping drivers focused on the task of driving. This applies to new drivers in the Graduated Licensing Program especially as they have not developed the necessary skills to spare attention for non-driving related tasks.

I was sitting at a red light this afternoon watching the approaching traffic. Two vehicles entered the left turn lane on the street to my left, one unremarkable and the other covered in advertising telling me that it was the courtesy vehicle for a well known collision repair company. Both were signaling for the left turn.

Last week's column on overdriving low beam headlights resulted in some interesting comments. Chief among them was the thought that this wasn't a problem because the driver had installed high wattage bulbs and now had more light to see with.

This YouTube video by South Australia's Motorcycle Accident Commission nicely illustrates the hazards of racing your motorcycle on the streets instead of the track.

Have you ever given any thought to how far you can see at night as you are driving along down the highway? High beam headlights seem to overpower the dark, but there are a lot of situations where we are limited to using just the low beams. I was required to calculate the safe speed using only low beam headlights at a seminar and I was surprised at the result.

Imagine that you are a firefighter, hose in hand, approaching the flames inside a burning building. You open the nozzle on your attack line and...nothing. Someone has driven over the hose outside in the street and ruptured it causing a loss of pressure. Not only are you unable to fight the fire, you are at risk now too.

I asked a couple of transport truck drivers what bothered them about the drivers of small vehicles. We had a lively half hour discussion from which I gathered their top five concerns. Each of them could have serious consequences for everyone on the highway.

Road Watch is a program born in sadness. On Mother's Day, May 9, 1993, a multi-vehicle collision occurred in Caledon, resulting in the tragic death of eight young people. This horrific taking of lives mobilized the community to action. From this concern a S.A.F.E. (Stop Automotive Fatalities Everywhere) committee was formed and the ROAD WATCH program of Awareness, Education and Enforcement of road safety was developed.

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.