Information related to vehicle speed and speeding.
A reader asks: "If the posted speed limits on our roadways are not just suggestions, why are they not enforced? If we are permitted to drive above the posted limit, how far above, and if so, how is anyone ever cited for speeding?"
This case from the provincial court in North Vancouver shows that licence plate evidence is critical to a ticket issued through the use of an Intersection Safety Camera. If the photo of the offending vehicle's licence plate is not clear enough to show it is a BC licence plate the ticket will be dismissed.
"I want to see my speed reading!" This was always a signal to me that the traffic stop was going to be a difficult one. The demand for a print out of the radar reading was a similar request. Depending on the tone of voice, it was often simpler to refuse outright and explain later on in traffic court, letting the justice be the referee.
The case of R v Francisco involves a collision on June 7, 2019 in Burnaby that resulted in the death of a pedestrian, Louise Landreth. Roberto Francisco was driving a BMW sedan erratically over a period of about one hour and twenty minutes until a collision at high speed resulted in a loss of control and Ms. Landreth being struck and killed.
Have you ever wondered about the instruments that the police use to measure vehicle speeds on our highways? My favourite tool was LIDAR because it gave me the ability to accurately measure the speeds of individual vehicles. Although the laser must be used from a stationary position, either hand held or on a tripod, being able to target a specific vehicle made it superior to RADAR on a busy highway.
Just because we can go fast doesn't mean that we should. When it comes to the speeds set on our highways, many drivers look at it solely from an engineering point of view. Letting physics and what you can (or can't) see as your guide to personal speed setting does not take in the larger picture.
I frequently drive both the Trans Canada Highway up the Malahat and onwards to Duncan and back to North Saanich where I live. The Malahat is a dangerous part of the highway, has been forever and yet most, and I emphasize, MOST People, far exceed the speed limit.
I had an interesting conversation with a driver at the roadside one morning. I had stopped him for driving at 107 km/h in the posted 80 km/h zone entering a high collision area on Highway 4 east of Port Alberni. Speeding is a particular problem as a primary contributor to collisions there.
According to a study conducted by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, drivers are substantially more likely to speed when using Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) or automations that combine ACC with lane centering than when not using either technology. The concern here is that abuse of the system will cancel out the safety benefit of having it.
I enjoy tinkering with electronics in my spare time and was pleasantly surprised to come across instructions on how to build my own speed camera system using a Raspberry Pi and Python based software that was freely available to download and use. You can probably create the whole system for less than $100!