DriveSmartBC

I found an interesting post on Twitter this morning by @renomate talking about the intersection of Ocean Boulevard and the Island Highway in Colwood. He said "Standing at the intersection, waiting for the little "walk" symbol to appear so we can cross... my (8 year old) daughter says to me, "Dad, what do you do if you want to cross there"? (pointing perpendicular to where we are crossing) "you have to cross 3 times, and there's not even a scramble"

This shot is from the B.C. Archives and is of Highway 3 near Greenwood, taken in the 1950s. It shows how much our major hightways have improved since then. The lanes may be the same width, but the shoulders are improved and marked with solid white lines. The white center line is now yellow and likely is not a single broken line here today. Concrete guard rail replaces the old post and steel beam that often penetrated the passenger compartment in a collision.

A motorist will encounter three types of flashing traffic signals, red, yellow and green. Learn to Drive Smart, BC's Safe Driving Guide gives examples of each situation on page 37, but the law set out in the Motor Vehicle Act is more descriptive. Let's examine each case and see what is required.

This one surprised me, research that shows it is actually safer for cyclists to slow down and go past a stop sign without stopping instead of coming to a full stop. The US state of Idaho's statute Title 49, Chapter 7 permits it, along with different behaviour at a red light. Cyclists are required to stop and yield, but may proceed on the red if it is safe to do.

LED street lighting is controversial where I live. When BC Hydro upgraded some sections of the Town of Qualicum Beach the complaints started. For the most part they were about the new lights being too bright. There were many references in the media to colour temperature but none to the number of lumens that these lights were actually producing.

Which driver do you think is worse, those that live in the left lane and don't follow the speed limit or the left lane blockers travelling at the speed limit who won't get out of their way? The answer was obvious to our traffic court justice but you may not agree.

This is the case of Lemma v Wong. Messele Lemma attempted to cross Commercial Drive at East 11 Avenue in Vancouver. He stepped off the curb slightly outside the unmarked crosswalk into the path of a pickup truck driven by Gary Rolfe. Mr. Rolfe stopped suddenly to avoid colliding with Mr. Lemma. Mr. Lemma continued to cross Commercial Drive, now in the crosswalk, where he was struck by a car driven by Lindsey Kwan who had changed lanes to the left and passed the Rolfe vehicle.

Question: The City of Kelowna has a roundabout at the corner of Burtch Road and Guisachan Road that has been designed to merge the cycle lane into the sidewalk as it approached the intersection. I regularly walk in the area and am always hearing "On your left" or "On your right" from cyclists that expect me to get out of their way.

I enjoy these videos by Road Guy Rob. He explains how the road structures that we use daily function in an easy to understand manner. In this video he takes on the subject of raised medians. On one hand, they prevent crashes, but on the other, they keep us from turning left where we might want to. This video explains how engineers decide how to build raised medians.

I was driving home after shift last week listening to the radio and enjoying the sunshine. The traffic report was being broadcast and in it was a cell phone call from a woman who had been stopped in the lineup for the highway construction on Highway 4 between Port Alberni and Parksville. She wondered if anyone knew what was going on.