Beware the Flower Clown and Other Roadside Characters
I would imagine that your opinion of police traffic surveillance tactics probably depends a lot on whether you are the recipient of a ticket or not because of them. You may have actually seen Corporal Smith in Nanaimo dressed up as the Easter Bunny or Constable Martell of Kelowna wearing a hoodie and holding up a sign made of cardboard. They certainly got to see a lot of traffic violators and provided information to pick up teams a bit further down the road.
Any chance you might do another article on handheld device usage in BC? The first rider death of 2012 in Kelowna was caused by driver inattention to cell phone usage. I've attached a photo that was just taken this Saturday. We actually took several - I was driving, my wife was operating the camera. This particular one clearly shows what has the driver's attention.
Occasionally I look at a driver around me in traffic and ask myself "what can they be thinking?" Today I wondered if the driver behind me was thinking at all! Road conditions could be described as typical BC winter driving, but this guy was so close that I couldn't see snow between the rear of my vehicle and the front of his.
Some of the most dangerous drivers on the road recently are those that are trying to be polite by waving a second driver to go when that second driver doesn't have the right of way. Drivers should just drive to the rules of the road, its safer and keeps the traffic moving in an orderly fashion.
I hope that an article about passing on the right might help at least some drivers understand the rules and help improve the driving community. I have made a point of keeping to the right side of the lane to try and prevent vehicles from passing. One day a driver fingered and yelled at me, yet the driver was attempting to do something illegal (even though many drivers perform this illegal act).
I've noticed a new way to do a left turn onto a busy four lane highway near my home. You stop at the stop sign, look both ways, then turn left onto the traffic island. Once there, you check behind and move right into the fast lane if there is room. If not, you stop and wait until there is room to proceed.
Microsleeps are a fleeting, uncontrollable episode of sleep which may last from a fraction of a second up to 10 seconds. These episodes occur most frequently when a sleepy person is trying to remain awake. Up to 20% of crashes in Australia are blamed on this phenomena. Dr. Karl, who narrates this video, is best known as an author and science commentator on Australian radio and television.
The case of Stevanovic v Petrovic involves playing chicken by a driver who was certainly old enough to know better. Mr. Petrovic decided to do this with his friend Mr. Stevanovic who was standing in the street waiting to be picked up. The resulting collision caused a serious leg injury.
I was sitting at a red light this afternoon watching the approaching traffic. Two vehicles entered the left turn lane on the street to my left, one unremarkable and the other covered in advertising telling me that it was the courtesy vehicle for a well known collision repair company. Both were signaling for the left turn.