Equipment

I saw many things over the two decades that I spent in full time traffic enforcement. Some of those things left me shaking my head wondering why the driver ever thought their vehicle was still driveable! If you don't value the life of other road users, surely you value your own.

Many people think of traffic policing consists mostly of handing out speeding tickets. This is not the case as there are many other job functions that officers are responsible for. One that I often found to be an interesting challenge was conducting roadside mechanical inspections.

A few times every summer I'm riding my motorcycle and come up to a set of traffic lights and have to stop. I find myself behind a diesel pickup as we both wait for the light to turn green. When it does, the driver hits the throttle and I become another victim of "rolling coal". What am I to do?

Question: Is there a certain distance apart the front and rear signal lights have to be apart on a motorcycle? Is there also a distance for how high off the ground they should be? I believe the signals have to be two separate units apart from the head lamps, or tail lamps correct?

Question: Is it correct that the maximum a vehicles OEM height can be modified is 10cm either up or down? Then why do we see trucks on the road with lift kits that are obviously more than 10cm high?

Thinking back over my years of doing mechanical inspections at the roadside, one of the most common deficiencies in older vehicles was a parking brake that was either seriously out of adjustment or didn't function at all.

Sometimes our urge to use the latest technology can backfire when it is not thoroughly considered and tested. Using a touch screen instead of the usual physical controls on our vehicle's dash has turned out to be a bad idea. Regulators will require buttons to get top safety ratings starting in 2026.

Trip inspection report standards for commercial and business vehicles in B.C. are defined in both National Safety Code 13 and the Motor Vehicle Act Regulations. Daily pre- and post-trip inspections of these vehicles are mandated to insure safety by identifying and repairing defects that would cause a collision or result in a breakdown before driving.

Question: Beadlockers generate a lot of discussion in the offroading world. Most maintain that "DOT approved" beadlocks are fine in BC, but I can't find any supporting legislation either way. The BC regulations are silent, but there might be something in federal legislation.

Question: Would fill me in on the rules of the road regarding jacked up or raised pickup trucks? I'm often blinded by headlights from those trucks and I would not want to get in a head on with one of them as their bumper is about head high for me.