Technology is a wonderful thing. Those of us whose mobility is restricted have had their capabilities enhanced through the use of motorized wheelchairs. A number of readers have observed that the operators of these scooters seem to drive them wherever they please and are concerned for safety. What rules do their operators have to follow?
Our provincial government has brought the majority of the Zero-Emission Vehicles Act into force effective on July 30, 2020. The aim of the act is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by regulating the sale of zero-emission vehicles. Starting in 2025, at least 10% of new light duty vehicles sold in BC must be zero emission.
I watched a television news story about a traffic collision that interviewed family members exiting the courthouse. One of the people lamented that if the known bad driver had been prohibited from driving the whole incident that brought them there never would have happened. If only it were that simple, because a driver will only stop driving after being prohibited if they want to comply with the law.
Designing Streets for Kids is a supplement to NACTO-GDCI’s Global Street Design Guide, which set a new global baseline for designing urban streets. This guide builds upon the approach of putting people first, with a particular focus on the specific needs of children and their caregivers as pedestrians, cyclists, and transit users in urban streets around the world.
Do Advanced Driver Assistance and Semi-Automated Vehicle Systems Lead to Improper Driving Behavior? This report summarizes an analysis of data from two naturalistic driving studies using vehicles equipped with advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS). The outcomes shed insight regarding driver behavior while using ADAS versus driving under normal conditions and the safety implications.
Have you ever felt upset enough about something that happened around you in traffic that you wanted to report it to the police? I'm sure that we've all felt that way at one time or another but haven't followed through.
In cities, transportation agencies have long understood that motor vehicle speed plays a key role in fatal and serious crashes, and have sought to reduce speeds through design and regulation in order to save lives.
Who is responsible when an autonomous vehicle is doing the driving and the police intend to take enforcement action for an error it commits? This question is explored in a report from the Rand Corporation. While the report looks at the perspective in the US, the same questions will have to be answered here in Canada.
Our society's tolerance for drinking and driving continues to narrow. When I started policing in the 1980s it was a major investigation to convict someone for impaired driving. An investigator had to develop skills and experience in the detection of alcohol impaired drivers to form grounds to make a breath demand and convince the court that it was an appropriate decision.
Many people complain about the speed of traffic in their neighbourhoods. Is it an accurate complaint? How do you justify your complaint to the authorities? Well, there's an app for that too.
I remember hearing about a person who was tired of this so he measured the distance between two utility poles beside the highway that he could see from his kitchen window. He would site and time vehicles between the poles with a stopwatch.