DriveSmartBC

This is an appeal by Bahman Zargarian from his conviction by a Judicial Justice of the Peace in Provincial Court at Nanaimo on December 19, 2012. Mr. Zargarian's vehicle had been observed in traffic by a constable who visually determined that it was travelling faster than the posted speed limit of 50 km/h. Based on that observation, the constable stopped the vehicle and issued Mr. Zargarian, who was driving, a speeding ticket. Mr. Zargarian disputed the ticket and was convicted in provincial traffic court.

The topic of choice in the DriveSmartBC e-mail box this past week has been about drivers who pass you in the left lane of a multiple lane highway and then immediately change lanes back in front of you. This action leaves less (sometimes much less) than optimum following distance between you and the driver who passed you.

I am wondering if you can get a speeding ticket (not red light ticket) by mail?

You may be able to disregard the rules in the Motor Vehicle Act and survive, but flouting the laws of physics when you drive will eventually result in a collision. I spent a decade dealing with concepts like perception - reaction time, coefficients of friction and maximum acceleration when I did a forensic examination of a collision scene.

In April of 2014 Michael Shmyr was convicted in Whatcom County Court in the State of Washington of the offence of driving under the influence of alcohol. Mr. Shmyr is a resident of British Columbia and holds a B.C. driver's licence.

This case arises from a collision at the intersection of West 7th Avenue and Pine Street in Vancouver, B.C. A motorcycle driven by Rizwan Ali had stopped at the stop sign on 7th anticipating a left turn onto Pine. Shirley Fineblit was following behind Mr. Ali and decided to pass by him on the left because he had been driving his motorcycle slowly and she thought he was turning right. Mr. Ali turned left and collided with Ms. Fineblit as she passed by.

One of the more eye-opening exercises that I used to conduct at this time of the year was to park my police vehicle at the brake check and wave in vehicles pulling boat trailers for a mechanical inspection. I had learned that boat trailers were often the most poorly maintained of all recreational trailers and there were often serious safety defects to be found.

I reported to police regarding an L Driver who is driving by himself and on occasion with his kids in the car. I was then contacted by the police and told that the driver is not violating any part of the Motor Vehicle Act.

Deliberately bad drivers seem to be appearing more and more often on our highways. If e-mail to the DriveSmartBC web site is any indication, other drivers are no longer shrugging it off and report offenders in the hope that they will be held accountable. Some, including myself, have taken to posting photos or video of selfish, inconsiderate or dangerous drivers in that hope that public shaming might improve that driver's behaviour.

This short video by the Tire Industry Association explains what your tire pressure monitoring system (TPMS) does and why it is important to know when any of your tires are underinflated. Aside from the safety benefits, the TPMS system can  decrease irregular tire wear, improve your vehicle’s handling, reduce braking distance and better your fuel economy.