The Collision Repair Company's Courtesy Vehicle

I was sitting at a red light this afternoon watching the approaching traffic. Two vehicles entered the left turn lane on the street to my left, one unremarkable and the other covered in advertising telling me that it was the courtesy vehicle for a well known collision repair company. Both were signaling for the left turn.

I'm guessing that the driver of the second vehicle decided he had made a mistake entering the left turn lane because he swerved out of it over the solid line and overtook the vehicle in front of him, still signaling for his left turn of course! It made me wonder if the collision repair company reserved that courtesy vehicle especially for him. If he always drove like this he might need it often.

Drivers such as this one were always interesting to encounter. Which ticket would I choose to write? Disobey traffic control device for the arrow painted on the lane that told the driver he must turn left? Maybe changing lanes over a solid line? How about failing to signal? They are the traffic officer's equivalent of the proverbial kid in the candy store situation.

Can you honestly tell me that you didn't know about each of these three rules? I suspect not. Should this driver have received one, two, or all three tickets for his actions? Perhaps he should have been prohibited from driving on the spot for a week. What do you think?

Reference Links:

Obeying Traffic Controls - Section 125 Motor Vehicle Act
Driving on Laned Roadway - Section 151 Motor Vehicle Act

All three, without a doubt.

All three, without a doubt. People rarely think about how much they are doing wrong when they decide to mess around.

Ticket him all three at the minimum fine, with as few points as possible to better let the driver know how many times he went wrong. There's also less chance of a dispute going through because all three would need to be disputed and three is simply two more tickets he would have normally had to have dealt with.

While ticketing people will-nilly will get the message to those few people who decide to break the rules, it doesn't really do much for everyone else. The fact that people in the Vancouver area drive the way they do speaks volumes for the quality of training (or lack thereof) that people go through here.

I find that it's a lot of ignorance about the rules and speeding that people here are guilty about. Just today I was nearly broadsided twice. Not once, twice after several drivers ignored the traffic lights that were without power and failed to stop. I did and was attempting to perform my manoeuvre through the intersection when with little warning, a silver SUV flies through the intersection coming just inches from hitting the front of my car.

I would love it if ICBC would spearhead an effort to educate drivers and set them straight. Common errors I see really are ignorance based. Driving in a roundabout, entering the proper lane upon finishing a turn, not taking advantage of turning left at the red at one-way streets, tonights power outage rules don't count madness. When I cross the border, the quality of driving just shoots through the roof and it's only the B.C. plated cars that are making most of the errors. Something is not being done right here.

If all else fails, ticket ticket ticket. I'll be cheering (and slowing to 40/70 and changing lanes if I can) when I see a cop pulled over writing someone a ticket.

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I was required to take a defensive driving course arranged by the B.C. Motor Vehicle Branch. I can't recall if it was a 1 or 2 day course but it made me a much better and safer driver immediately. The instructor spoke to us in the begining about why we were there and whether we were going to learn or continue a dangerous and irresponsible path.

The decision ultimately would be ours but there would be consequences. Thus engaged most of us did take it very seriously and we did learn. I had thought my basic knowledge and skills were superior but wow did I get my eyes opened. Back in those days most of us were 'mis-taught' to drive by a relative or friend so we generally also learned their bad habits too .

In response to your observations and query about punishment I think there definitely should be consequences when a driver is stopped for 2 or 3 offences in a row as you spoke of . Why not have a "defensive driving course" as a partial solution ? Another option might be some sort of sign like "N" or "L" as there is now for learners or novice drivers ( incidentally those who place their N sideways to appear as a Z should be made to correct it ). They show an obvious disrespect for the law .

Perhaps an " R O " for restricted due to offences or "D D" for dangerous driver in lieu of a fine . They say there is nothing like advertising and the driver would be acutely aware of his/her "status" when going out on the road .

The sign could be peeled off by a police officer after say 3 months .

I think the driver's in the Comox Valley generally are awful . Daily I see no signalling , drivers not stopping for pedestrians ,drivers speeding on Fitzgerald and even side streets such as 14th. where I live . Drivers passing on the right and one that really scares me ,tailgating aggressively . Sadly people are still texting or yapping away with cel-phones too only now they do it at red red lights !

I personally feel even 'hands free' calling still moves our concentration away from the road to whom we are speaking .

Visualition is the real danger factor here . We "image" the caller especially if it is someone familiar to us and this takes our focus , and concentration .