I watched a particularly foolish driver the other afternoon who decided to cross over two lanes of traffic in order to prepare for a left turn about a kilometer ahead. This driver zoomed across all the lanes without pause, ending up in the left hand lane about three vehicle lengths ahead of a heavy truck.
Curb space. This can be a very valuable commodity in urban areas due to the increasing competition among different road users for that space. During COVID it was even valuable for unrelated uses such as outdoor dining for restaurants. How should this be managed by officials, planners and engineers in the future?
Eastbound on Point Grey at Alma there are two bike lanes on the north side of the street that are allowed to cross Alma without stopping. Cars eastbound on Point Grey must turn either right or left, and there is a curb/diverter on the far side to prevent them going straight through. Cars northbound on Alma face a stop sign, and one option is to turn right through the diverter.
Tow trucks are too expensive! I've got a chain and a buddy to do the steering and apply the brakes, so we'll just drag that broken down vehicle home and fix it ourselves. Think of the money we'll save doing it this way!
Vancouver's Worst Drivers is a YouTube channel that features submitted dash cam video from BC's Lower Mainland highlighting examples of terrible driving. The videos show collisions, people being dumb behind the wheel, people having no idea how rules of the road work, pedestrians doing stupid things, along with rants on things that drive the channel author nuts about other drivers.
We are seeing significant changes to city streets that create more room for transportation modes other than the automobile. Your opinion of these changes likely depends whether you are inside or outside of that automobile. Is it an informed opinion? Where do you find information on how these things work? Good questions!
Travelling on a budget was likely behind a request for information that I received about camping beside the highway. The correspondent was curious to know if there are any rules in BC that would stop someone from camping on the side of the highway overnight.
The case of R v Zhang is an appeal in Supreme Court for three convictions in traffic court arising out of the provision of unlicensed passenger transportation services. Haiya Zhang was driving for Udi, a ride hailing service similar to Uber. He was not licensed under the Passenger Transportation Act, did not have the appropriate class of driver's licence and the vehicle he was using did not have a valid inspection certificate.
How can a driver mistake the gas for the brake? I could not rationalize this explanation after reading another news story where a driver in a parking lot had driven into a building with significant force. Surely the driver must have known that this was going to happen and could have prevented it.
Here is another video from Road Guy Rob who explains about how engineering improvements can reduce the number of drivers who fail to stop for red lights through inattention or error.