One of the more frequent vehicle equipment complaints that I receive is about blinding blue headlights. I am told that they are horrendous to an oncoming driver and it is hazardous to be driving because of the glare. Drivers want to take their eyes off the road or look to the side to avoid them. Are they legal?
This case is another example of how a series of choices led to a collision. Merritt Towing parked a tow truck on the left side of the divided highway, partially encroaching on the travelled lane, without placing warnings. The angle of the sun and the reflections off of the wet pavement seriously affected the forward vision of drivers at that location. The driver that hit the parked tow truck and been following a large commercial vehicle and chose to pass it on the left instead of on the right.
This report on auto safety from nader.org is aimed at the new Biden administration in the United States. It advocates turning the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration from "a sporadic, meek consultant to the auto giants" to a strong law enforcement agency. Citing "NHTSA’s inaction and institutional abandonment by Congress and the White House," and "NHTSA’s tiny budget, now far less than what is spent on military bands" it expresses the hope that the administration will begin a new day of public safety.
Imagine how difficult the job must be to keep the 494 chapters of the provincial statutes of British Columbia in order. The legislation that they contain must be added to in order to reflect what we need today, amended as circumstances change and the courts rule on their use and finally repealed as they no longer reflect our wants and needs. Small wonder that some things slip through the cracks.
This video from the Dutch Safety Board poses a very interesting question: "Who is in Control?" With more and more Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) being incorporated into new vehicles this is a very important consideration. News of collisions happening when these systems fail is not new. This raises another important question: "Who is at Fault?"
Here's an interesting idea. Getting cars off the roads should also be part of Vision Zero. Perhaps even being included as a 6th pillar of the strategy. This article in StreetsBlogUSA made that suggestion.
I often hear comments that a friend or family member should not be driving. This person is usually either an older driver or a person suffering from health issues known to the person making the comment.
The rules surrounding the use of electronic devices while driving have been refined by the BC Supreme Court yet again in the case of R v Bleau. Ryan Bleau was charged for having his smartphone sitting in his vehicle's cupholder using it to listen to a podcast while he drove to work. He was convicted of the offence in traffic court.
Is it the highway's fault when there is a collision? A Facebook page dedicated to bringing improvements to an intersection on Vancouver Island that frequently sees major collisions raises that point. It also raises a number of suggested fixes for the issue.
If you have tried to enter the freeway in the lower mainland, you may have encountered a traffic signal on the on ramp. Why would there be a red light at a freeway entry? During times of congestion, controlling how vehicles enter the freeway can actually keep the traffic on the freeway flowing. A small wait on the on ramp is traded for what could turn out to be a significantly long wait in gridlock.