Miscellaneous

I'm lucky to be part of Vancouver Island University's Elder College program. It's one of 18 similar programs found throughout British Columbia and is aimed at participants who are aged 50 or older. I present 2 three hour seminars on driving and always seem to learn something myself through interaction with the group.

The following quote came from Castanet in Kelowna: "Sadly, not everyone knows the rules of the road and/or how to operate their motor vehicle correctly. Pressing the pedals and basic coordination is about as far as some people get."

The beginning of this month was not a good one for many road users in the province with the weather related closure of 3 major east - west highway routes. Road maintenance contractors generally maintain our roads in good condition for safe driving, but when weather overwhelms their resources it should not be a surprise when road closures are the result. If you choose to travel during major weather events your mantra should be Know Before You Go or perhaps even simply Don't Go.

Question: I'm trying to find the laws relating with driving without due care when someone has a unknown issue with diabetes that caused the incident and the fine. The officer involved also asked for a certificate of medical clearance because he had a suspicion that some sort of attack may have initiated the problem.

What the safest thing is for a woman to do when her car breaks down on a remote road? Often our roads do not have cell coverage.

“My tires aren’t the greatest, there’s really no point living in Vancouver to get, you know, snow tires. But yeah, a little slippery, but just drive slow, you’ll be fine.” These words of wisdom came from a young woman standing on an icy city street with a dog under her arm and a small child in tow. Do you think that this is a reasonable outlook for winter driving in the lower mainland, or anywhere else in B.C. for that matter?

Last week we looked at what you should be entitled to expect as a driver on B.C.’s highways. It only seems fair that we should examine what your duties as a driver are this week. As before, if I miss or misstate any of them, you are welcome to e-mail webmaster@drivesmartbc.ca and express your opinion.

Who would have thought that among the most cost effective ways to improve road safety was to invest in public transit? Public transit can be 10 times safer to use than driving your own vehicle, so a modest increase in transit ridership can have disproportionally larger road safety benefits. A report by the American Public Transportation Association titled Public Transit's Safety Benefits explains.