Speed

Question: I loaned my vehicle to my girlfriend while I was out of the province. She was caught excessively speeding, received a traffic ticket (officially called a violation ticket), and my vehicle was impounded for seven days. I wasn't even in British Columbia at the time, but now I can't get to work because my vehicle is in the impound lot. How can I be responsible for something I didn't do?

You see them everywhere across British Columbia: bright digital signs in school zones, construction corridors, and municipal transition zones flashing your exact speed back at you. When these roadside speed reader displays—technically known as Speed Display Devices (SDDs) or Driver Feedback Signs—first began popping up on B.C. highways, traffic engineers openly questioned their long-term viability. Would the novelty wear off once local drivers grew accustomed to them?

My highway patrol unit was issued its first laser speed measuring device back in the early 1990s. It quickly became a popular enforcement tool due to its precision in targeting specific vehicles and measuring speed accurately. Just like radar before it, laser technology required time for case law to mature in the courtroom.

As a knowledgeable driver, you are likely aware of the three blanket speed limits that cover the province of British Columbia. These statutory limits are 80 km/h outside a municipality, 50 km/h within a municipality, and 20 km/h on a municipal lane. However, there is another official method for establishing a localized blanket speed zone: the use of an "Area" sign.

Question: A friend of mine just received a speeding ticket in BC. The description of the offence says "speed signs", the Act is "MVA", and the section is "146(7)". What does this mean? She doesn't think her actual speed was recorded on the ticket, but there are two numbers, "91-89", written in the top right corner. Lastly, if she disputes this ticket, can a judge increase her penalty?

Sometimes the simplest questions are the ones that make you pause. During a recent highway patrol shift, a work-experience student sitting in my passenger seat asked a straightforward question: Are radar detectors legal in British Columbia?

Speeds considered excessive by residents are considered reasonable by these same persons when they are driving in another neighborhood. This observation is taken from a publication titled Speed Control in Residential Areas by the Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE). It goes on to say that residents’ complaints are usually accompanied by a proposed solution to the speeding problem...stop signs.

When a vehicle is in yaw it is rotating around a vertical axis through it's centre of mass. The long, curved yaw marks left by the tires on the pavement were characteristic of this motion. If they were striated and of constantly diminishing radius they were of great interest for collision reconstruction because the vehicle's speed could be determined from them.

Question: My son was ticketed with driving too fast for road conditions. The air and roads were dry so there were no road conditions. He was in an unfamiliar area at night and was in a roundabout which had a steep ditch on one side. As he was unfamiliar with the roundabout, he simply turned into the curb instead of following the curve of the road, and ended up over the curb and slightly down the embankment.

Question: The police officer used a radar gun to check my speed. According to him, there are no records for radar calibration on it. This is a real, live issue for my trial. If the radar gun does not have service records, then how do we know that it is functioning correctly?