Unsafe Driving Practices

The topic of choice in the DriveSmartBC e-mail box this past week has been about drivers who pass you in the left lane of a multiple lane highway and then immediately change lanes back in front of you. This action leaves less (sometimes much less) than optimum following distance between you and the driver who passed you.

I first wrote about drivers whose behaviour in the "no zone" around heavy trucks left much to be desired back in 2004. Little seems to have changed since then as when I listen to the trucking radio channels the most common complaint involves drivers who jam themselves in front of a truck and then slow down.

This video of a multiple vehicle collision was contributed by the driver in the middle. He was stopped waiting to turn left with his wheels turned to the left in anticipation. The driver of pickup following behind apparently fails to notice the left turn driver slow and stop in front of him, resulting in the first collision.

Imagine making a lane change and crashing into a fully marked police vehicle stopped at the side of the highway with all of its emergency lights operating. I can only guess that the driver was not properly scanning his environment and looking far enough ahead to anticipate issues before they happen.

Rick Mercer asks "When did using a turn signal become optional in this country?"

I'm a semi truck driver and I've been cut off so many times by passenger vehicles racing around me to take an off ramp. They pull in front and hit their brakes. It's been close a couple times to the point I'm going to buy a dashcam to protect myself.

I'm sure that you have heard by now that the BC government has announced penalty points to go with a violation ticket for talking on a handheld device while driving. This new penalty, which also covers infractions like watching a DVD, programming a phone’s GPS, and operating hand-held audio players, is being combined with the $167 fine already in place and is now consistent with the three points and $167 fine currently given to drivers for texting.

Police reports quoted in the media sometimes deliver the wrong message to the public. Here's an example from the Victoria Times Colonist newspaper.

I hear many drivers these days talking amongst themselves how they stay in the fastest lane when the traffic is backed up. To avoid the line they then attempt to merge by getting as close to the lane as possible and to the vehicle in order to intimidate the driver to let them in.

This Volkswagen advertisement is a thought provoking comment on texting and driving. It's worth the 1:22 of your time to watch the video.