Lanes

Highway lane use information.

When Snow Hides the Lines: Collision on the Coquihalla

BC Courts Coat of Arms imageThis case involves a passenger car and a tractor-trailer that collided on a snow-covered stretch of the Coquihalla Highway. While the truck driver claimed he was safely established in his lane, the court found that he had suddenly pulled out to pass a slower vehicle, cutting off a passing car driver, The car driver lost control and struck the rear of the trailer, resulting in catastrophic, life-altering injuries.

Keeping Cyclists Safe

painted cycle laneResearch by Dr. Ben Beck at Australia's Monash University collected data on 60 cyclists in Melbourne who rode their bicycles with a custom device (the 'MetreBox') installed to quantify the distance that motor vehicle drivers provide when passing them. More than 18,000 vehicle passing events from 422 trips were recorded.

Crossing a Solid Line Ticket

Q&A ImageQuestion: I was on a highway in bumper-to-bumper traffic approaching my exit for work and changed lanes to the right once I saw the end of HOV lane sign, and in doing so crossed a solid white line. An RCMP officer was on the side of the highway and waved me over. I explained that I would be exiting the highway and that's why I changed lanes. He gave me a ticket for violation of Section 151(b) - crossing a solid line.

Keep Right Except to Pass

Keep Right SignLeft lane hogs were back in the news again this week. The CTV Vancouver news story that I watched complained that drivers were not being held to account by police for failing to move out of the left lane and letting other drivers pass. The report claims that based on ticket numbers reported by ICBC the number of drivers ticketed for failing to keep right fell from 799 in 2016 to 699 in 2018.

There Was No Yield Sign

image of a yield signQuestion: I need advice to dispute two traffic tickets, Disobey Yield Sign - Section 173(2) MVA and Change Lane Unsafely - Section 151(a) MVA. This is really strange because there was no yield sign at the intersection. Here is what happened to me on Friday night.

Painted Traffic Island Crash

BC Courts Coat of ArmsThis case resolves the liability for a crash where a driver making a left turn drove over the painted traffic island to get to the left turn lane rather than wait for traffic ahead. Unfortunately, the car ahead was also turning left and a collision occurred when that driver moved into the left turn lane without making a shoulder check first.