Information on specific vehicle equipment.
As is often the case, today's article comes from what I see around me as I drive. I was passed by a cube van with one white floodlight on the right rear illuminated. The driver of a truck tractor with no trailer pulled in front of him using the right lane and flashed his docking and backup lights a few times. The offending driver didn't get the hint and his backup floodlight remained on.
Place two average adult feet side by side on a piece of paper and draw a box around their edges. The area of this box is about the same as the area of your tires in contact with the road on an average automobile. Tires are your only contact with the highway, and collisions result when that contact is lost.
One of the loneliest books in the world might just be your vehicle's owners manual. Consigned to the glove box, many never see the light of day until they find a new home in the recycle bin. That's a shame because the manufacturer of your vehicle has put a lot of thought and important safety information on those pages.
We are an affluent society. Teens today own vehicles in numbers only dreamed about when I was that age. Often their disposable income doesn't end there and many dollars are spent on vehicle modifications and improvements. Do you know if your teen's vehicle is safe?
I was recently in a parking garage and while leaving hit this low mounted bike rack. It was impossible to see because it was so low and looked like a home made carriage. The damage to my truck bumper is now estimated at $750. Is it illegal for a car to have an unused bike rack like this one? Should I contact this person and are they liable?
B.C.'s vehicle inspection manual has been revised and the new edition will become the standard effective on September 2, 2025. The manual is used by inspectors at Designated Inspection Facilities to guide the approval of vehicles presented for inspection. It can also be used by police to guide decisions on enforcement at the roadside.
Question: How is it that car manufacturers are allowed to use reverse lights for functions other than reversing? I find it very confusing in a parking lot when I am slowing down for a vehicle that has the backup lights on, only to find people walking towards it or away from it.
Question: I was driving into work this morning and I went through a seat belt check and of course I had mine on but they pulled me over for my 6000K HID head lights and amber LED turn single lights. The police officer told me they were illegal because they were not factory equipment.
I saw many things over the two decades that I spent in full time traffic enforcement. Some of those things left me shaking my head wondering why the driver ever thought their vehicle was still driveable! If you don't value the life of other road users, surely you value your own.
Many people think of traffic policing consists mostly of handing out speeding tickets. This is not the case as there are many other job functions that officers are responsible for. One that I often found to be an interesting challenge was conducting roadside mechanical inspections.