DriveSmartBC

This is the story of a left turning driver collision at the intersection of Columbia Street and Marine Drive in Vancouver, B.C. Qiang Li was traveling eastbound on Marine Drive attempting to turn left onto Columbia Street. He collided with a car driven by Jasvir Purewal traveling westbound on Marine Drive in the curb lane. Mr Li's vision was limited by other vehicles waiting in the intersection and he relied on a hand gesture given by Vita Sinclair who indicated to him that the curb lane used by Mr. Purewal was clear.

Had a nice policeman come talk to me today and give me a violation ticket for driving without consideration 144 (1)(b). The offence allegedly happened over 2 months ago in another town 4 hours north of me.

Does "at or near" extend to the wrong municipality? The municipal boundary between neighboring Municipality C and D is "Street B", which has a wide grassy median dividing it. I was traveling on the Municipality C side of the road opposite to that of Municipality D written on the ticket, as was the officer and where I was pulled over.

Readers in Port Alberni and Kelowna have written this week to comment on drivers who stop to turn left between intersections and are then involved in collisions with drivers overtaking from the rear. In Port Alberni this is occurring in a downtown business district with straight road and a posted speed limit of 50 km/h.

David Cram was driving eastbound on Water Street in Kelowna, B.C. At the intersection with Clement Avenue, the vehicle in front of him stopped, signalling for a left turn. Mr. Cram slowed and after passing the sidewalk curb bulge passed by the stopped vehicle on the right hand side. The roadway at this point is marked for one lane of travel but is wide enough for two vehicles to use.

Anna Mullens was driving eastbound in the left lane of 64th Avenue in Surrey, B.C. As she neared 132 Street her vehicle was struck on the right side by a vehicle driven by Darshan Toor when he exited the Fruiticana parking lot. Mr. Toor explained that he was invited to exit the parking lot by the driver of a van that had stopped in the curb lane.

When my father-in-law from Quebec visited us here in B.C. years ago he was impressed with the idea of the overhead sign with flashing amber lights marked Prepare to Stop prior to signalized intersections. He thought that these signs made it much easier for the driver to prepare for a safe stop in advance of the signal changing to red. At that time this type of signal was not used where he lived.

QUESTION: A used car dealer here in Nanaimo has an advertising gimmick. It involves displaying a large dumpster with two or three wrecked cars standing on end sticking out of the top. Presumably it is one of those "push, pull, or drag" any car in for a generous trade-in allowance.

Many people think that you cannot ride your bicycle in a marked crosswalk. This is a holdover from the past and is no longer always the case. Today crosswalks that cyclists are allowed to ride across may also be marked with "elephant's feet," a line of squares on the outside of each solid line that forms the crosswalk.

Paul Hergott is a personal injury lawyer who practices in Kelowna and writes on a variety of topics about driving in BC and the consequences for the participants when things go wrong. In this article he writes about how sidewalks should be treated as stop signs.