DriveSmartBC

Transport Canada, the Automobile Protection Agency (APA) and the Rubber Association of Canada (RAC), teamed up to create a series of videos that clearly demonstrate how winter tires drastically improve driver safety when compared to all season tires or a mix of winter and all season tires.

In the past a closely spaced procession of slow moving vehicles with headlights on in the daytime usually meant a funeral. Today's daytime running lights make it difficult to decide if a line of vehicles is a funeral procession or not. The lead and final official funeral vehicles may use a flashing purple light when in procession.

Most of the people on my RV forum have moved away from ST tires to LT tires. They claim these tires have a higher reserve load capacity, better construction and much lower failure rate. The failure rate of ST tires appears to be substantially higher. My tire guy says if I get pulled over by traffic enforcement I will be fined for illegal tires. Have you heard of this?

After 20 years of full time traffic policing you accumulate many memories. I was reminded of one on the weekend when a small pickup passed me by and I could see the bright patch from the right low beam headlight shining on the pavement about 3 meters in front of the vehicle. The memory concerns a driver who thought headlight aim was unimportant.

In January 2011 CVSE announced that an alternative to conventional tire chains was now being allowed in British Columbia for commercial vehicles. The bulletin said that the use of pneumatic automatically deployed tire chains for commercial vehicles will fulfill the requirements of section 208 of the Motor Vehicle Act.

One would expect that the markings M+S or Mud and Snow on a tire would mean that it was designed for proper winter traction in all conditions. You might be surprised to find that it only defines a tire whose treads:

The case of Schurmann v Hoch arises from a collision that occurred at dusk in rainy weather. Mr. Schurmann was attempting to turn out of a parking lot onto the highway when he was struck by the vehicle Mr. Hoch (a GLP driver) was operating. Mr. Hoch had failed to turn on his headlights.

This issue of the Status Report looks at the quality of aftermarket replacement bumpers used in collision repair, how roundabouts are replacing traffic lights in Carmel, Indiana and a reminder of the special safety considerations for drivers of 15 passenger vans.

Would you please explain section 219(1) of the Motor Vehicle Act? My driver window gear stopped working on the Labour Day weekend (4 days ago) and I have not had time to get back to the dealer to have it repaired. The officer informed me that this is a safety issue if the vehicle ended up in the river I would be trapped.

"Oh yeah, I know the trailer brakes are working, I could feel them grabbing on the hill!" To me, this was almost as reliable as "The cheque's in the mail!" when it came to testing trailers with surge brakes at the roadside. This driver used the wrench I offered him to show me that there was no brake fluid in the master cylinder of the surge brake. Surprise!