Government

I would like to tackle a subject that might be a bit odd for DriveSmartBC but the consequences could be related back to safety. I’m thinking about travel speed and fuel economy because the faster you go, the more it costs, probably in more ways than one. Slow down and save.

I'm one of those odd drivers who tries their best to drive at or below the posted speed limit. I include the word below here as sometimes there is a need to slow down to less than the posted speed limit for safety reasons. This often has consequences for me when I have to share the road with other drivers who do not subscribe to my philosophy on road safety. A good example of this is looking in my rear view mirror and finding the Volvo logo on the grille of a heavy transport truck following me closely enough that I could count the bugs stuck to it.

The 5 recent fatalities on Comox valley roads indicate that the fatal accident rate here, is about 3 times the BC average,in the past 5 months  I hope that someone is paying attention to the causes of these preventable deaths.

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.

The Motor Vehicle Amendment Act Bill 15 - 2015 has passed First Reading in the legislature. Highlights of the proposed legislation include:

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.