DriveSmartBC

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to in order to reflect what we need today, amended as circumstances change and the courts rule on their use and finally repealed as they no longer reflect our wants and needs.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.

This is a case where Timothy Drewcock appealed his conviction for speeding in traffic court. His position is that the JJP should not have admitted police radar evidence because there was no evidence explaining when and how the radar instrument used in the case was tested and what tests were made.

"Are there specific rules of the road for parking lots?" asks a reader. "If so please clarify them." Parking lots often seem to be a free for all to me. This observation might be confirmed by the fact that ICBC reports that in 2018 there were about 96,000 crashes in parking lots that resulted in a claim being filed. 4,300 of those claims included someone being injured, 480 of those people were pedestrians.

Question: Here is a typical intersection in Vancouver at West Broadway and Birch in Kitsilano. Turning right is only allowed from the far right lane. However, West Broadway is packed with parked (legally, see the parking meter) cars, and if the parked car is too big and/or too close to the intersection, you don't have any room to change lanes.