DriveSmartBC

A reader from Vancouver asked me where the rules came from for bicycle lanes and signs as they could not be found in the provincial driving manual, Learn to Drive Smart. Included in the e-mail was a link to the City of Vancouver's web site which showed a collection of signs and markings that are now in use on the city streets there. I didn't think that this was going to be a tough question!

New Bill 52, to amend traffic court, is this proposed change scaring the crap out of anyone else? It looks the BC Government is further eroding any illusion that drivers of this province have any rights at all.

I recently received a ticket for driving without insurance. At the time I had a passenger in my vehicle with me. I produced expired insurance papers to the officer and was given a ticket. I then had to have my car towed home.

I spent most of my policing career as a traffic cop. Yes, I have an outlook that many in the public don't share, but they haven't spent 25 years investigating collisions and seeing the aftermath either. Thank goodness for that, but maybe our politicians need a bit of experience similar to my own to change their viewpoint on photo radar.

Reconstruction is part of Australia's Wipe Off 5 anti-speeding campaign. It demonstrates how slowing down by 5 km/h can drastically reduce the consequences of a collision. In contrast, one might think about many driver's tendencies to say that 10 over isn't a problem because the police don't write speeding tickets for that little over the limit. The ticket might be the least of your problems if your speed is the cause of a collision.

Here is another example of obstructed lamps. The owner of this vehicle has coated the inside of the rear lenses on this vehicle with a translucent black spray coating that makes the lens appear dark or black.

This 17 page document from the Canadian Council of Motor Transport Administrators examines safety in three key areas of the operation of 15 passenger vans: personal use, commercial use and the transportation of students. Much of the information that it contains should already be common practice for all drivers. Review is critically important because these vehicles are not as forgiving of negligence or mistakes as normal passenger vehicles may be.

Uros Budimac was parked at the side of West 11th Avenue in Vancouver. He signalled, shoulder checked and seeing nothing approaching pulled out to travel eastbound. Part way out of the parking space he shoulder checked again and saw the headlights of another vehicle approaching him. He stopped and was struck on the left front corner by a taxi driven by Parbhjot Bains.

I've been watching a number of conversations in the newspaper and social media lately, mostly with regard to B.C.'s slow down, move over law, but including changes to other traffic laws as well. The general theme has been that the government has been doing a poor job of telling the public what the new laws are and how we are supposed to follow them.

The following photo is an example of how a well intended vehicle customization can impact safety. The covers over the rear lens assemblies of this pickup have completely obscured the reflectors and significantly reduced the effectiveness of brake and tail lights, particularly in the daytime.