E Ticketing and Ticket Dispute Adjudication

Question MarkThis article was written in May of 2015 when there was a brief flurry in the media about the implementation of electronic traffic tickets and dispute adjudication replacing traffic court. Amendments to the Motor Vehicle Act to allow these changes were made in 2012, but fast forward to March 2022 and no changes to traffic ticket disputes have occurred.

Dogs in the Back of Pickups

Dogs like to ride in a Pickup BoxJust mention the words "truck ride" and our dog becomes your shadow. Like most dogs, she refuses to be left behind when someone is going for a drive. Being a lap dog, she rides inside and thinks that the right front seat is hers, although she will happily let people sit underneath her.

RESEARCH - Social Norming Used to Improve Pedestrian Safety

Pedestrian CrossingThe City of St. Paul, Minnesota has created an innovative program to increase driver compliance with the requirement to yield to pedestrians at unsignalized marked crosswalks in the city. Prior to this initiative, The study initially observed 32% of drivers yielding and frequent multiple threat passing incidents.

CASE LAW - Bains v Watkins

BC Courts Coat of ArmsThe case of Bains v Watkins might be a classic He Said / She Said situation. The purpose of the trial was to decide who was on the wrong side of the road when a head on collision between vehicles driven by Janice Watkins and Surinder Bains occurred. The incident occurred on 84 Avenue near the 135A Street intersection in Surrey.

Merging Traffic

Right Lane Ends Ahead SignOne correspondent observed that "It seems that drivers in BC generally have a big problem when it comes to merging. In this case let's say from two lanes to one. In the normal course of events merging shouldn't be any hassle at all - take turns, one from the left then one from the right - it all moves along nicely, and has a minimal effect on holding up traffic. Not in BC! Here it appears to be everyone for him / herself.

Drive Green, Drive Safe!

green image of earth with plant growing out of itI wrote this article 14 years ago when gas prices rose by 6 cents a litre between leaving for work and driving home one day. The information that I shared then appears to be even more appropriate today with both prices and climate change to consider. Drivers can choose to drive economically and that choice can also result in improved road safety.

CASE LAW - R v Francisco

BC Courts Coat of ArmsThe case of R v Francisco involves a collision on June 7, 2019 in Burnaby that resulted in the death of a pedestrian, Louise Landreth. Roberto Francisco was driving a BMW sedan erratically over a period of about one hour and twenty minutes until a collision at high speed resulted in a loss of control and Ms. Landreth being struck and killed.

VIDEO - Vancouver's Worst Drivers: March 12, 2022

VideoVancouver'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.

Proper Display of Licence Plates

BC Olympic License PlateThe humble licence plate has but one job, positively identifying the vehicle it is attached to. Without license plates, how would we know who owned the vehicle? How would you complain about an erratic driver or report your stolen vehicle? Intersection Safety Camera (ISC) enforcement and Automated Licence Plate Recognition (ALPR) would be stymied and even the lowly parking ticket would have difficulty.