DriveSmartBC

Speak to a large majority of homeowners and they will all tell you the same things that bother them. The first big problem is noisy vehicles, especially as the warmer weather arrives. The city has noise bylaw and other laws under the Highway Traffic Act that were written as to make life in a community more enjoyable and maintain quality of life. Not much is being done to eliminate all of the excess annoying noise from vehicles, new or old.

In this civil case the driver sued a cyclist for damages caused when the cyclist collided with his parked vehicle. The driver's reasoning was that his door had been open for some time and that the cyclist should have seen and avoided colliding with it. The judge did not agree.

This case discusses care and control of a motor vehicle while impaired. The woman, seat belted in the driver's position, was the only occupant of an idling vehicle parked at the curb. Investigation by ambulance paramedics and police revealed that the woman did not have a medical problem and was impaired by alcohol.

Do the police ever charge a fellow officer with a traffic offence? I suspect that members of the public more often than not would respond "no" to that assertion and would be skeptical of protests to the contrary. In R v Wlodarczak, we see that this happens, even when the accused is driving an unmarked police vehicle at the time of the offence.

A question/ debate has come up and I was hoping to get your opinion on the matter. A member of our car club has been ticketed with a rolling stop on a red light, and having too many passengers which violate the terms of his novice permit.

This is a road safety campaign video from the UK, just in time for Valentine's day, aimed at teen drivers. One of the slogans used is 'More girls die as passengers than as drivers.' This is a significant idea for the female half of the equation to consider. They do need to play an active role in keeping the male focused on safe driving when necessary, obviously for their own good.

This is an examination of the application of Driving Without Due Care and Attention under section 144(1)(a) of the Motor Vehicle Act. In this instance the driver of a van pulled across the path of an oncoming motorcycle because the driver, Goldade, felt that he had sufficient time to clear the motorcycle's lane before it arrived. The misjudgment precipitated a collision in which the driver of the motorcycle died.

The case of R v Drummond examines a Charter of Rights argument that a delay of 17 months from the offence date to the trial date for a traffic violation ticket is unreasonable. Grant Drummond was served with a traffic ticket for excessive speed, tinted windows and failing to wear a seatbelt on August 1, 2007. He filed a dispute of all counts within the 30 day time period.

This traffic safety advertisement from Finland is full of subtle humour and drives home the message "Even Dummies Wear Seatbelts." I especially liked the airbag inside the nut that the squirrel smashes open. Well worth the few seconds that it takes to view!

The British Highways Agency has produced a 14 minute video titled "Great Roads, Great Rides 2." It is designed to put you on the bike, inside the helmet and close to the road, in order to teach you to identify hazards and 'read the road'. The rider in the video is Glenn Julian, a professional motorcyclist.