DriveSmartBC

Have you ever wondered if a vehicle was stolen but didn't want to call the police to find out? Now you can use the same search tool that the police do with your own home computer and internet connection! Simply visit the Canadian Police Information Center (CPIC) web site and search for stolen vehicles by Vehicle Identification Number (VIN). If the vehicle is in the CPIC database as stolen you'll know.

Have you ever wondered about the instruments that the police use to measure vehicle speeds on our highways? My favourite tool was LIDAR because it gave me the ability to accurately measure the speeds of individual vehicles. Although the laser must be used from a stationary position, either hand held or on a tripod, being able to target a specific vehicle made it superior to RADAR on a busy highway.

The case of R v Min arises from an intersection safety camera ticket. A 2015 Audi was photographed traveling through an intersection in Vancouver at a speed between 41 and 60 km/h over the 50 km/h speed limit. Le Min, the owner of the Audi was issued a violation ticket which she disputed. The matter was heard in traffic court where she pled guilty to the offence.

No matter how quickly I start to cross once the walk light comes on or how fast I walk, I can make it only halfway across and by then the orange flashing hand has appeared. Drivers proceed even though I am still in the crosswalk trying desperately to make it safely to the other side. Many of them are also convinced they have a right to make the left turn even though I am still in the crosswalk.

The case of Gylytiuk v Krause arose from a collision between a car and a motorcycle being driven on Enterprise Way in Kelowna. Brian Gylytiuk was riding his motorcycle behind a car driven by Julia Krause east of the intersection with Dilworth Drive. A U-Turn performed by Ms. Krause caused the collision.

Real-World Use of Automated Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) and Their Consequences is a research report from the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute that examines how a group of 50 drivers used the ADAS systems in their personal vehicles over a 12 month period. The study found that 47 of 235 safety critical events which occurred during that timespan involved ADAS use.

A number of readers contacted me after I told a story about a man walking behind me when I was preparing to back out of a parking stall. These readers all advised me that I should back into parking stalls rather than driving forward into them. The benefits of doing this outweigh the convenience of entering the stall nose first in all cases but one.

Todd Fewer and Edward Powell live across the alley from each other in Vancouver but have never met. There is an ongoing issue with Mr. Powell having trouble backing up to exit his carport due to the position of Mr. Fewer's garbage bins. The bins are often knocked over and the garbage that they contained was not picked up by city crews.

Every year in Canada, drivers kill 16 child pedestrians and 5 child cyclists. They also injure 1,300 and 700 respectively. Sadly most of these incidents are preventable and we can do things to make it safer for children to walk or ride a bicycle in our community.

Whoosh! Here comes a car overtaking my police vehicle at 144 km/h in the posted 110 km/h zone. It's dark at 11:30 pm and at that speed, any animal or object on the road won't be identified in time and a collision is almost sure to occur.