Equipment

An important piece of safety equipment that is often overlooked on all variety of vehicles is the humble reflector. Why do I need reflectors? I've got lights! I heard this many times at the roadside after pointing out a lack of reflectors to a driver.

Question: I have a question about US vehicles on vacation in BC. We were stopped in a large roadcheck on the long weekend and checked by the Commercial Vehicle Safety and Enforcement (CVSE) people.

I was told by a Costco employee that according to the laws of BC if you buy 2 new all season tires (other 2 still in very good condition) that the new tires must be placed on the rear of vehicle regardless of whether your car is a front or real wheel drive; otherwise, if you get in an accident you insurance will be invalid? Is this correct?

I have a trailer that is rated at 10,000 lbs. It is a pintle hook setup and we have two safety chains. What size is required? We would never be carrying anything over 4000 lbs on the trailer.

While this tire may have adequate traction on dry pavement, add a little bit of water and you have a recipe for disaster. This is a photo contributed by a police officer who found this vehicle during his patrols. It can only be described as neglect and it is likely that the driver failed to consider his own safety much less that of others on the roadway with him.

Is a Police officer also an inspector under the motor vehicle regulations? For noisy exhausts it is the opinion of the inspector that seems to critical in determining whether the vehicle exhaust is too noisy.

So it would be great if a police officer could issue a ticket or a notice to correct just based on their opinion, which should be just more useful than trying to do decibel testing.

Question: I have been trying to find specifics on what is the difference between off road lights and driving lights. All I can see is the indicator of SAE-Y on the lens, is this the only difference?

Question: I see BC Transit buses have converted their big bus fleet to LED headlights. Are they now legal? Just an observation, most are poorly aimed and prone to blinding on-coming drivers.

BC law that requires a front licence plate on most vehicles. To mount a front plate on my vehicle requires that I punch a hole in the bumper. I don't want to do that.

Snowmobile decks are often missing required clearance lights and reflectors. Unless the deck is less than 2.05 m wide the pickup truck lights alone are not sufficient.