Viewpoint

On this site and elsewhere, it is sometimes asserted that under BC law, no one ever "has the right of way" -- that right of way can only be yielded. That is contradicted by the following from the Act:

Currently in BC, motorcycles are required to sit in traffic like any other automobile is expected to, but this is very dangerous for motorcyclists! The solution is 'lane filtering', a practice vilified by the general driving public in much of North America.

The headline read “Malahat crash sees angry motorists verbally abuse first responders.” Police already at the scene had to call other officers to provide crowd control. The incident raises the question of what should I expect as a road user?

It’s very interesting that some new drivers to BC can easily obtain a driver license with no written test on BC traffic laws and no road test to demonstrate competency .

Road safety should not be based on political agreements.

While many of the 12 Countries that are exempt from testing, have lower vehicle Fatality rates, Some countries have triple the Canadian average fatality rates.

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,"

Translink Buses

We are asked to give buses a break but the problem is that when they are parked at the curb the drivers have their 4 way flashers on. Unfortunately these 4 way flashers use the same lights as the turn signals. If there is more than one bus in the line when the driver switches from 4 way to turn signal  there is no way to tell what you are seeing.

You may be interested in the number of distracted drivers nabbed by Comox Valley RCMP in a recent 5 day campaign. They caught 91 drivers including one who received 2 tickets in one day-likely the same bad habit as the lady in Vancouver with 14 tickets.

I commend the local RCMP for their ability to detect these distracted driver as I rarely notice them any more. Speeding drivers are much more obvious.

I am concerned about the increased speed limit on high way 19. Unfortunately , there have been 3 fatalities on this divided high way, within the Comox Valley, in the past month. Although I do not regularly drive high way 19, I have observed that  too many drivers travel faster than the 120 KPH posted speed limit. Some do not slow down during heavy rains or reduced visibility , treating the posted speed as the minimum.

Being a BC driver for 50 years and never had a ticket nor caused an accident, why doesn't the Motor Safety Branch ask me about my driving techniques and attitudes?

I bet there are others in my category that could help other drivers be better drivers.

Better hurry, though, I'm getting in the "Senior" category, too!

According to B.C.'s current Transportation Plan, Goal #1 is to better serve people from British Columbia, the Ministry is continuing to align transportation and land use to provide a safe, seamless and reliable transportation system across modes and jurisdictions. My wish is that the province would bring back automated speed enforcement.