Behaviour

I wrote this article 14 years ago when gas prices rose by 6 cents a litre between leaving for work and driving home one day. The information that I shared then appears to be even more appropriate today with both prices and climate change to consider. Drivers can choose to drive economically and that choice can also result in improved road safety.

It's back to school time for students at Frank J. Ney Elementary School in Nanaimo and Nanaimo News Now is reporting conflicts between residents on Entwhisle Drive and Carriage Drive and the parents driving their children to the school. The residents do not want the parents to use "their" street to deliver children to school.

Meet Monty, a railroad underpass in Melbourne, Australia that only has 3 m of clearance above the road surface. As you might guess, many vehicles greater than 3m high literally run into trouble at the underpass. This happens so frequently that there is even a website dedicated to keeping track of how many days have passed since the last crash!

A reader explains that several times they've been on the highway and had someone, usually in a big truck or old car come right up behind, so close that they can't really see the front of the vehicle. The reader drives a small Toyota and is frightened by this bullying behaviour. The question is, what do you do when you find yourself in this situation?

Ask a lawyer who specializes in collision litigation and they will tell you that the most frequent collision type they deal with is a rear end crash. Common causes of rear end collisions include driver inattention or distraction, following too closely, panic stops, and reduced traction due to wet weather or worn pavement.

Depending on where you are reading this column in British Columbia, the autumn frosts are either already here, or will be here shortly. This means that it is now time to be aware of the lazy driver who can't or won't scrape their windows and pulls onto the highway before the defrosters have had a chance to clear more than a small patch low on the windshield.

I watched a television news story about a traffic collision that interviewed family members exiting the courthouse. One of the people lamented that if the known bad driver had been prohibited from driving the whole incident that brought them there never would have happened. If only it were that simple, because a driver will only stop driving after being prohibited if they want to comply with the law.

Whenever I make a public presentation and then open the floor to questions people always highlight the traffic problems in their neighbourhoods and ask why the police never seem to be doing anything about them. I always feel inadequate when I point out that those same problems exist everywhere in our community and the police can only be there occasionally.

I've been asked to discuss the practice of some drivers who "slow down, way back from a stop light, potentially blocking access for both the left and the right turn lane, especially where there is an advance green light for a left turn." The person who requested the examination is irked by these drivers as it costs them precious seconds of driving time.

Ah courtesy, where have you gone? You are certainly scarce on the highways and byways of our fair province! When was the last time another driver did something nice for you to facilitate a movement? Did you wave to say thank you afterward? We can all get along nicely with a bit of courtesy now and again.