DriveSmartBC

“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?

Here's a video about distracted driving with a different point of view: how to avoid them! DriveSafeRideSafe believes that all drivers need to be educated about the likelihood they will need to protect themselves from the mistakes of other drivers on the road.

The Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure has released it's final report on the safety of motor coach transportation in the province.

Mana Erfani received a two count traffic ticket for not having a valid driver's licence and using an electronic device while driving. She intended to dispute both counts, but on the advice of an insurance agent, paid the fine for the no driver's licence count. On the date set for the trial of the use electronic device count, Ms. Erfani failed to appear and was deemed convicted.

Ouch! My ICBC insurance rates are going up as much as 42% over the next five years according to an article in the Province newspaper. I already paid $630 this year for the privilege of having my fellow British Columbians help me pay for collision liability if I make a mistake and crash my pickup. I’m not looking forward to paying $895 in 2021, but when you consider how much you could be on the hook for if you didn’t have insurance, even that doesn’t look too bad.

It has often puzzled me that we undergo rigorous testing to get a driver’s license around the age of 16 or 17, and yet are not required to take a driving test again until some time in our 80s.  In some cases, that is 60 or more years of driving without re-testing.

Quoted from the YouTube video page: Our speed is one of the few things we control on the roads. While speed doesn’t always cause crashes, it always determines the severity of a crash. This is because the speed we travel at creates a force and it’s our vehicle and our bodies that absorb this force in a crash. This means the faster we choose to travel, the more severe a crash will be (whether the crash is our fault or not).

I am a transit operator in the Central Okanagan. Can you please tell me how best to direct my concerns that British Columbia might not be communicating clearly enough to drivers the contents of Section 169.1?

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.