DriveSmartBC

The province of British Columbia intends to make  significant changes to the way drivers are penalized for disobeying the driving laws. The current Violation Ticket and traffic court system will be replaced with something similar called a Driving Notice and a system of dispute adjudication under the Office of the Superintendent of Motor Vehicles.

One day in the not too distant future police will swipe your driver's licence through a card reader, pick the offence from a list on their computer screen and click print to issue you a traffic ticket. No more hand written ticket forms for BC drivers.

The Minister of Justice announced changes to the Motor Vehicle Act affecting motorcycle helmets and motorcycle passengers. Effective June 1, 2012 all motorcycle riders who are not exempt will have to wear an approved motorcycle helmet that bears approval markings showing that they comply with established standards.

Yesterday's edition of the Victoria Times Colonist newspaper contained an article about Justice Minister Shirley Bond considering making the driving record of B.C. drivers public knowledge. The idea is that if conventional methods of convincing drivers to follow the driving rules are not successful, then it is time to find other solutions. This one would be aimed at embarrassing a non-compliant driver publicly.

We reach the mid-point of Canada's Road Safety Vision 2015 in only a few more months. I'm not going to ask if you are doing something to meet the goals of the program, I'm going to ask you if you have ever heard of the program.

How busy are our highways? Quoting from their web site, the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure's Traffic Data Program monitors traffic volumes at several locations throughout the province. This information is used by ministry staff to help support planning, design, construction, and operation of the Ministry road network.

Police will revert to the previously used sanctions when a driver provides a breath sample at roadside that results in a fail reading due to the recent Supreme Court decision in Sivia v Superintendent of Motor Vehicles.

I'm no stranger to death by automobile. It was never a pleasure to investigate fatalities and for me there was no satisfaction in the successful prosecution of the impaired driver that caused them. Many more people than the direct victims were hurt and I knew that the only way I could really contribute was to hunt down the impaired driver and stop them.

Natural Resource Road users have until December 15, 2011 to have their voices heard and shape the creation of the Natural Resource Road Act.

From the web site description: "Have you ever driven over rumble strips and wondered how many lives they have saved? Or perhaps you have noticed roundabouts being installed near your home and wondered why they are safer than intersections with stop signs or traffic signals.