Are you going green? Is a motor assisted cycle something that you are considering the purchase of to help you get around? Adding an electric motor to a bicycle to help out with the chore of pedalling uphill or giving a boost to your efforts on level ground sure sounds good!
When I was young, we thought nothing of throwing a mattress in the back of the station wagon, loading up my brother and sisters and heading off on holidays. We would sprawl on that mattress reading comic books or playing games. Sometimes we even fought over whose turn it was to be in the back.
It's common knowledge that you must report a collision to police if there is death, injury, aggregate damage over $1,000 for motor vehicles, $800 for motorcycles and $100 for cycles. Until the law changes in British Columbia, effective this past July 1, this is no longer the case. Collisions do not have to be reported to police, or anyone else, to fulfill the reporting requirements of the Motor Vehicle Act.
When I worked on the Municipal Traffic Section in Penticton about 15 years ago I watched a young man on a motorcycle ahead of me in traffic on the summertime busy main street. He was first in line at a red light and when it turned green he cranked on the throttle and roared off down the street balanced on the rear wheel with the front one about three feet off the ground.
Would you write an article on painted traffic islands? As I pass an island with my left turn signal on, someone behind me will often drive across the island, attemping to pass me and turn at the same intersection. I have seen professional drivers do this as well.
"Cash for Scrap Vehicles" reads the slogan spray painted on the side of a brightly coloured rust bucket parked precariously on the bank between a fence and the side street. It is visible from the main highway as you drive by and if you look carefully at it you can also see the telephone number to call to take advantage of the service.
The Victoria Transport Policy Institute is an independent research organization based here in our province dedicated to developing innovative and practical solutions to transportation problems. They regularly make research papers available to the public and here are the most interesting from their last newsletter:
Last week I received an e-mail from a young lady who was a student at a university in eastern Canada. She was involved in a traffic safety program on the campus that aimed to make it more pedestrian and bicycle friendly. She said that they had posted a number of new signs and painted some crosswalks but the drivers largely ignored them and drove the way they always did, which wasn't courteous to other types of road users.
Here's a handy document produced by the Commercial Vehicle Safety and Enforcement people who are part of the BC Ministry of Transportation. It explains how to determine the Gross Vehicle Weight Rating, Brake and Driver's Licence requirements for various types of recreational vehicles (RV) operated on BC's highways.
The Traffic Injury Research Foundation (TIRF) is pleased to announce the launch of the Young and New Driver Resource Centre. The new centre is a one-stop shop on young and new driver issues that is designed for parents, young and novice drivers, researchers, and policymakers.