Government

This has been an interesting week for road safety. The Provincial Health Officer has released a report, Where the Rubber Meets the Road: Reducing the Impact of Motor Vehicle Crashes on Health and Well-being in BC, that suggests lower speed limits in residential areas and the return of automated speed enforcement as a means of reducing injury and death on our roads. Tom Fletcher is the legislative reporter for the Black Press in Victoria. He quotes Minister Todd Stone's response to the report:

"We believe there are more effective technologies that can be employed, and frankly a better way to utilize precious police resources than to resurrect what was largely a failed photo radar program that was nothing more than a tax grab for British Columbians,"

Our provincial government has announced an update of the Road Safety Strategy 2015 to adopt a Vision Zero approach to road safety using a Safe Systems model. This means "that road safety developments must account for the inevitability of human error, limitations of the human body in withstanding force, and the responsibility of road and vehicle designers, policy makers and road users for road safety."

Well, I've seen this coming for months. There is an off-ramp on Hwy1, exit#28 onto Boundary Rd heading south, just before Grandview Hwy; and immediately after there is a tiny little street called E 11th Ave. I take the off-ramp about 5 times a week and almost every time some genius takes a right turn from Boundary's middle lane into the 11th. Most of the time I am able to foresee this and come off at about 30km/h waiting for the next bright mind to turn across my nose with-out a shoulder-check.

I received a notice from the City of Castlegar Bylaw office regarding a car I have parked on my property. According to bylaw 1120 #1(h) I am not allowed to have an unlicensed car anywhere on my property.

I'm sure that you have heard by now that the BC government has announced penalty points to go with a violation ticket for talking on a handheld device while driving. This new penalty, which also covers infractions like watching a DVD, programming a phone’s GPS, and operating hand-held audio players, is being combined with the $167 fine already in place and is now consistent with the three points and $167 fine currently given to drivers for texting.

On October 1, 2014 the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure announced new winter tire rules for British Columbia. The changes are part of the Rural Highway Safety and Speed Review conducted by the Ministry about one year ago when BC residents were asked to express their opinion. From the information provided to me, it appears that the only thing that has changed is the signage beside the highway and the chain option for passenger vehicles.

The Motor Vehicle Act and Regulations together make up the traffic enforcement "bible" for most police officers. They set the standards for traffic rules throughout the province of British Columbia. What you may not have considered but could still run afoul of are local traffic bylaws enacted by municipalities.

Here is a link to the story called "Behind the Bike Box." My first reaction to this story is one of disgust, Is the City of Kelowna following BC road law in instituting this bike lane feature? Is the City of Kelowna trying to single-handedly redefine the Higways act? Does it not fly in the face of existing BC road law?

The Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner has decided that the use of GPS by an employer, KONE and ThyssenKrupp Elevator, to keep track of their employees and company vehicles is allowable under current privacy legislation.

Setting the speed limit on a highway in BC is a more complex process than most people realize. If you're curious, the Ministry of Tranportation and Infrastucture's blog explains about design, use and review with regard to speed limit setting and revision on our highways.