Impending Distracted Driver Legislation

BC will be implementing new Distracted Driver legislation this Winter. If the additions to the Motor Vehicle Act are approved, starting January 1, 2010 drivers will be prohibited from operating a cellphone while driving a motor vehicle except by utilizing a hands free device with one-touch operation. Drivers in the Graduated Licensing Program will not be permitted to operate communications devices at all.

Also restricted is any use of mp3 devices such as ipods, any adjustment or programming of GPS systems, whether installed as a factory-option or not. The operation of virtually all peripheral electronic devices will be prohibited while operating a vehicle on BC roads.

Starting February 1, 2010 drivers who are caught texting or dialing on their cellphones will be fined $167 under new legislation. Drivers who are in the Graduated Licensing Program will be fined the same amount but will additionally be given 3 points on their license.

This legislation mirrors similar campaigns in Ontario, Manitoba, PEI, Nova Scotia and Quebec. Alberta, like BC has announced its own distracted driver legislation this fall. It also comes on the heels of several university studies which have demonstrated critically high levels of driver impairment or distraction by cellphone / text device usage - levels which in some cases exceed impairment by alcohol!

I'm certain that many others will be feeling somewhat relieved as I do that this legislation has finally been adopted. Please do your part and avoid both the distraction and the financial expense of using your cellphone while driving, except when absolutely necessary and only with a one-touch handsfree device.

Tailgating

This week I'd like to discuss safe following distances. Many people might be familiar with the uncomfortable feeling of someone following your vehicle too closely. Having another driver right on your bumper feels terrible because it is very unsafe.

Immediately in front of and behind your vehicle is a danger zone which you have to keep open and filled with space. There is a specific distance that you must be following another vehicle, any closer than which you will not be able to stop should the vehicle in front of you suddenly brake for an emergency.

A rule of thumb for finding a safe following distance is to make sure that your vehicle is following at least 2 seconds behind the vehicle in front of you in ideal conditions. As conditions are very rarely ideal, especially on the 'Wet Coast', I advocate an extended following distance of 4 seconds while in the city and 6 seconds while on the highway. This will help to compensate for mechanical, environmental or driver conditions being less-than-ideal.

To find a safe following distance, as the vehicle ahead of you passes a landmark or signpost, begin counting 'one thousand and one, one thousand and two, one thousand and three, one thousand and four' etc until your vehicle passes the object to ensure that your following distance is sufficient. Do not be afraid to leave a long following distance; if another driver pulls in front of you and reduces your space, simply lift your foot off of the accelerator and drop back a little before resuming your speed.

HOV Lane Madness...

I'm frequently frustrated when driving on Highway 1 between Vancouver and Coquitlam by other drivers' lack of understanding regarding the proper way to use the Highway 1 High Occupancy Vehicle lane. Many drivers think of this lane as an 'Express Lane', or a high-speed passing lane, which it is not.

The HOV lane has been set up as an alternative Traveling Lane, like the rightmost lane only with restricted and limited access. Access is restricted to vehicles with 2 occupants or more and is limited to specific locations immediately before and after on- and off-ramps. Due to this limited access, the HOV lane really cannot be used as a passing lane without breaking both the law and the spirit of the lane itself.

Last year, there was a tragic crash in the HOV lane eastbound between Brunette Avenue and the Cape Horn Interchange on Highway 1 in which a mother and 2 of her 3 children were killed. The vehicle which collided with their broken down vehicle in the HOV lane was a single-passenger vehicle which pulled into the HOV lane to execute a passing maneuver.

So, next time you are considering pulling into the HOV lane to 'sneak past' some traffic while alone in your vehicle, be aware that you could receive tickets for:

• Crossing a solid white line (points and a fine),
• Driving unlawfully in the HOV lane with less than 2 vehicle occupants (fine) and possibly,
• Speeding (points and a fine)

In addition you are violating the spirit of the HOV lane which is to reward multiple-passenger vehicles at rush hour when traffic becomes severely congested on Highway 1 with a limited-access lane that doesn't have people continually moving in and out of it.

RCMP & ICBC Implement Intersection Campaign

Last week, the ICBC, partnering with the RCMP and other British Columbia policing organizations began a month-long Intersection awareness and enforcement campaign. ICBC wants to raise awareness of intersection safety as we go into the slippery Fall to Spring season here on the 'Wet' Coast. The campaign was kicked off with a dramatic mock crash at the intersection of Beatty and Robson in Vancouver on November 6, 2009.

I'm personally very happy about this campaign, as it is something that I think is under enforced, while speed infractions are somewhat over enforced. I believe the reason for this is that speed infractions are easy to prove (radar & laser units,) while lane-use and intersection infractions are harder to prove before a judge in traffic court.

By ICBC's own statistics, 40% of crashes happen at intersections. As such, it's my opinion that the police should be enforcing lane discipline and intersection usage more than they do currently, but I understand the logistical problems with that. Lane and intersection enforcement is less efficient than speed enforcement because it's not possible to set up big traps at high-efficiency locations like they can with an anti-speeding campaign.

So please, be aware of your lane discipline and saefety in intersections. This is especially important in the wet, rainy season as children are going to and from school and the skies are cloudy and dark. I wholeheartedly support this campaign. Please tell your family and friends to watch their safety at intersections. Let's help ICBC and your local police department to NOT give tickets to people we care about, while at the same time making the roads safer for everyone who uses them!

Lane Use at Controlled Intersections

I'd like to discuss a situation that I saw this weekend at an intersection. At the time, I was on foot so I noticed this traffic situation in much greater detail than I would have otherwise. There was a car waiting to turn right at a traffic light. The driver (at Position 1,) was stopped because he didn't have the right of way, due to the oncoming traffic (the driver at Position 2,) having an advance green arrow to turn left ahead of the other traffic. Please see the poorly edited intersection diagram to the right for detail.

Although there are two lanes in the northbound direction where both the driver at Position 1 and the driver at Position 2 will complete their respective turns, legally and for safetly only one driver may enter that roadway at a time. Since the BC Motor Vehicle Act does not stipulate which lane you may finish a left turn maneuver in, the driver in Position 2 has the right of way - he may finish his turn in either of the 2 northbound lanes. Therefore the driver in Position 1 is clearly responsible to wait until the intersection is clear and it is safe for him to enter.

This leads us to the problem. As the driver in Position 1 was waiting, a motorist behind him began honking at him, obviously thinking that it was appropriate for him to go while the left-turning traffic had an advance arrow to go. This visibly stressed out the driver in Position 1 and actually caused him to second-guess his instinct for safety and to give into the pressure and enter the roadway while the left-turning vehicles were still using the intersection.

If a collision had happened after the driver in Position 1 had entered the northbound roadway with one of the vehicles which had an advance left turn signal, the driver in Position 1 would be 100% responsible for the crash, from a legal and insurance perspective. He would likely also receive a ticket for 3 points against his license as well as a fine for entering an intersection when it was unsafe to do so.

Making this situation even worse, the drivers in the 3 vehicles behind the one in question did the exact same thing. Each of the drivers of those vehicles committed a violation of the BC Motor Vehicle Act and placed themselves in a position of being 100% at fault if a collision were to happen and leaving a clear opportunity to receive a traffic infraction.

Additionally, consider that one of the left-turning vehicles might need to lane-change to the right to make a right turn immediately after his left turn. Alternately, the vehicle turning left could be a large truck which requires a wide turn and might end up in the right-most lane. Considering all this, I'm certain you can appreciate why it is never safe to enter a roadway with a maneuver at the same time that another vehicle is entering the same roadway.