Speed

Some sections of rural highways in British Columbia saw an increase in the posted speed limit in 2014 following a provincial government review which included a poll of the population. Within two years some of these increases were rolled back due to rising collision rates. Today a research report released by academics from the University of British Columbia evaluates the effect that the initial speed increases have had since they were implemented.

Many drivers believe speeding alone does not actually cause crashes. While not totally inaccurate, this over-simplified phrase does not paint the whole picture. The fact is, very few crashes are caused by one factor alone, and this includes speeding, but downplaying the impact of speeding can prove to be deadly.

In a survey dated August 13, 2018 conducted by ResearchCo asked "Do you approve or disapprove of using the following kinds of speed enforcement in British Columbia?"

Question: In the winter, how do police determine what is a safe speed? I was driving Highway 5 in a storm and didn't really want to do 45 km/h with a 2 km line of traffic in the left lane. I passed the train of cars, but only did about 70 km/h. I felt that it was safe for myself in the truck that I was driving.

This is a video produced by the Belgian Federal Highway Police in collaboration with the Parents of Child Highway Victims. It is in French with English sub-titles. It features conversations between drivers caught speeding and the parents of children who died in collisions. Both are seated in the rear of a vehicle immediately after the driver had been stopped by police.

In the case of R v Griffith we find ourselves in the Supreme Court at an appeal of a conviction for speeding. Edward Scherbey was driving out of a 30 km/h school zone travelling at 54 km/h. Constable Sabulsky made both a visual estimate of his vehicle's speed and measured it with a Stalker Dual DSR radar device before issuing the speeding ticket. At the conclusion of the trial in Provincial Court, a conviction was entered.

This case involves Doctor Benham Beheshti who was a physician at a hospital in Port Moody and lived in Vancouver. On August 30, 2015 he was on call and summoned to the hospital to treat a seriously ill patient. He was stopped for speeding on Pender Street and issued a traffic ticket by a member of the Vancouver Police Department.

Hi, I am a concerned citizen and home owner that lives on Blind Bay Road in the South Shuswap.

Marlen Gjoka was travelling eastbound on the Trans Canada Highway entering the posted 50 km/h speed zone that begins near the Harriet Road intersection. Constable Klear of the Saanich police department was stationed 350 meters into the zone observing and measuring the speeds of approaching traffic. He estimated Mr. Gjoka's speed at 100 km/h and using an UltraLyte LRB laser device he measured the speed at 99 km/h.

This report, dated May 2017, produced for the New Zealand Transport Agency. It aimed to understand time saving as a motivation for New Zealand drivers’ speeding in the context of other motivations for speeding, and to investigate the effect of education that aimed to improve participants’ understanding of the costs and benefits of speeding.