Lanes

This is a small claims case that appears to involve a bit of self appointed construction zone traffic policing by two motorists, some road rage  and a minor collision when a third vehicle tried to overtake and merge. One driver was intent on merging and one driver was intent on preventing the other from merging.

QUESTION: Just wondering....when the roads are snow covered and you can't see the painted lines but there are tracks worn in the snow and are not within the 'lanes' what are ther legal responsibilities and duties especially if one is in an accident because one person is in the 'lane' and the other is in the worn tracks.

Question: I would like to know about right turns at the intersection of Dunbar Street and 16th Avenue in Vancouver. When turning right from Dunbar northbound to 16th eastbound, is it legal to turn right on a red light from the middle lane?

This Supreme Court case from 2003 is useful to illustrate two topics: lane splitting by motorcyclists is illegal in BC and traffic court justices may prohibit drivers based on a bad driving record and have the prohibition upheld by the higher courts.

I'm not sure if you have covered this in previous columns but two of my biggest peeves is people that can't maintain proper lane positioning and people that shave corners. This is extremely dangerous if the offending driver is coming into your lane and a friggin' nuisance when following behind someone that 'gets into the gravel" and spits it up. What happened to the drivers courtesy today?

Question: I am having difficulty with HOV Lanes and speed limits. Here are two different scenarios that I'm curious about and a comment about (non) enforcement of the speed limit during rush hour. I am uncomfortable using the HOV lane due to the dangerous behaviour of drivers overtaking me from the rear when I follow the speed limit.

I received a Violation Ticket for Drive In HOV Lane cited under MVA section 152 with a ticketed amount of $109. The officer that served me the ticket stated that it was the minimal offense and carried no Penalty Points.

I have a question for you and hope you can answer it.

You're driving from Kelowna to Vancouver on the Okanagan Connector. There are two lanes for your direction of travel. The fast lane seems to be pretty clean with bare pavement. The slow lane is covered in snow and doesn't look safe. You have winter tires and everything, but bare pavement always beats compact snow.

Ramp metering is one solution to the difficulty drivers have entering a busy freeway. Without it, platoons of vehicles would approach in the acceleration lane bumper to bumper. Everyone would be trying to jam themselves into the first gap in the slow lane that they encountered.