The European Transport Safety Council has released the first of it's thematic reports in the PRAISE series asking the question "How can in-vehicle safety equipment improve road safety at work?"
Thinking back over my years of doing mechanical inspections at the roadside, one of the most common deficiencies in older vehicles was a parking brake that was either seriously out of adjustment or didn't function at all. Also known as an emergency brake, this mechanical alternative to your hydraulic braking system really has two jobs: providing emergency braking in the event of brake failure and holding your vehicle stationary when it is parked. Will your parking brake be up to the job?
Safe Kids USA has released a report that explores the extent to which drivers are engaging in other activities while traveling through school zones. It is very likely that the observations made in this report are representative of distracted driving behaviours that occur in BC school zones as well.
This short video examines physical tests that police may use at the roadside in the UK to detect a drug impaired driver. They are equally applicable here in Canada as part of an examination by a Drug Recognition Expert, especially since recent amendments to the Criminal Code require that the driver participate in them.
Chances are, if you've ever gone to a car dealership and test driven a vehicle, you were driving a vehicle equipped with demonstration license plates. These license plates are commonly known as dealer plates and may be attached to any vehicle owned by or under sale consignment to the dealer intended for use by a customer.
I've read an article advising that you should carry a photocopy of your vehicle licence with your name and address blacked out. If the vehicle was stolen with the keys or garage door opener in it, the thieves would not have easy access to your home and address. It went on to say that all the info that the police require would be on your drivers licence. Is this a good idea?
In the time that I have been writing this column I have accumulated many different topics. The requests have been varied, but I must admit, I never would have come up with this week's topic myself. A reader has asked about vehicles owned by dead people.
On a sunny afternoon patrol one weekend I stopped a vehicle that had been exceeding the speed limit. As I approached, I could see two gray haired women in the front and two men of the same vintage in the rear of the car. I could also see a partially consumed cold beer in the hand of each of the men, who made no attempt to hide them from me.
This video contains scenes of a graphic nature. A disturbing new ad campaign has started to encourage people to wear their seat belts. The Government commercial shows graphic images of the fatal damage car crashes can cause to internal organs in a bid to persuade people to belt up.
This case involves a collision that happened at an intersection where one street is controlled by traffic lights and the cross street by stop signs. Dr. Schlappner stopped at the stop sign, saw that the traffic lights were red and proceeded to cross the intersection. While he was crossing, the traffic signal turned green and a vehicle driven by Mrs. Serfas proceeded and collided with him.