Motor vehicle law column by Tim Schewe

It's that time of year again, sunny and dry with a chance of mindless smokers. I watched another one take the last puff and then toss the smouldering butt out the window onto the highway while he waited in front of me at a red light. All it needed was the breezy nudge of another passing vehicle to find it's way into the dormant grass on the shoulder to really get things started.

One could call the police and report this person. It's an offence under the Motor Vehicle Act to discard things on a highway. When an unthinking driver tossed his cigarette as I walked up to the vehicle during a traffic stop I used to offer them the opportunity of picking it up themselves or I would do it for them at a cost of $109.

You might also consider notifying the Ministry of Forests and Range. They are interested in hearing from you about incidents like this. Call *5555 on your cell phone or (800)663-5555 from a land line. Their enforcement officers may choose to use the provisions of the Wildfire Act to penalize careless individuals.

Something must have struck a nerve lately as I have received a number of requests to deal with cyclists passing other traffic on the right hand side. One near miss on a right turn even had the cyclist shaking their fist and cursing the driver. No doubt cyclists have their issues with the behaviour of motor vehicle drivers but passing on the right is something cyclists do when in most cases they should not.

In British Columbia, cyclists have the same rights and duties as the driver of a motor vehicle. That means they must obey the same traffic rules and must be treated as if they were another car or truck on the highway. It also means that cyclists may receive a traffic ticket for traffic rule violations as well.

Our traffic rules generally forbid passing on the right. It may only be done if there is an available lane on the right, when a one way street is of sufficient width or when overtaking a vehicle signaling a left turn. However, one must do so safely and must not travel off the roadway. Roadway means the portion of the highway that is improved, designed or ordinarily used for vehicular traffic, but does not include the shoulder.

What's behind me and why should I care? I'm driving down the highway and I'm certainly not going to back into something! There are at least two common hazards that occur regularly behind every driver and looking out for them is just good sense.

The first hazard is the impatient driver that follows you too closely. Identify this hazard and you can avoid it by either slowing down or even pulling over and stopping. If you choose to slow down, you increase your own following distance and allow even more time to react if something happens. In a sense, you are thinking ahead for the dummy behind.

The second hazard is the vehicle that is rapidly overtaking you. Anticipating a foolish passing move, postponing a left turn even though your signal light is flashing or deciding that this is not the time to stop suddenly could be very important to you!

For these reasons and more, it is wise to know what is around you when you drive. Scanning your mirrors briefly every 5 to 10 seconds will help you keep that big picture fresh and give you the time you need to decide how to avoid trouble. You must know what is behind you and you should care!

www.drivesmartbc.ca/safety-equipment/whats-behind-me

Here's an new angle on a continual problem, that of other road users failing to yield to emergency vehicles. Most of the time this question is asked about cars and trucks, but this fire department official asks the question about a different subset of traffic, cyclists:

Our trucks were recently responding code three to a call when we came upon a group of approximately fifteen cyclists. Traffic was very heavy due to the holiday weekend and, despite lights flashing and sirens wailing, the cyclists did not stop. Consequently, motorists were prevented from pulling over as the cyclists were in the way. Must cyclists abide by the same road rules as motorists when it comes to being approached by emergency vehicles?

A person operating a cycle on the highway has the same rights and duties as the driver of a motor vehicle. This means that when approached by an emergency vehicle displaying a flashing red light and sounding a siren, they must move to the nearest edge of the roadway clear of an intersection, and stop until the emergency vehicle has passed by.

Despite the fact that a cyclist is not licensed, they may still be issued a traffic ticket for violations of the rules. The fines are the same as those applied to a motor vehicle driver but cyclists are not assessed penalty points by ICBC.

I applaud the green attitude of those people who ride a limited speed motorcycle (LSM) for their trips on BC highways. Surely their carbon footprint is a lot lighter than my own. That and their wallet will be heavier as these motorcycles are economical to buy, license and operate.

I also cringe when I see them on higher speed highways traveling at 70 km/h or less. Will they be at significant risk riding among other traffic moving at 90 km/h and faster? Drivers today seldom have patience for anyone driving at the speed limit much less those driving more slowly.

Some LSM riders appear to have decided that they should drive on the shoulder of the highway rather than in the lanes with the rest of the traffic. This practice may feel safer for them but it is not legal. They must take a position in the lane as any other motorcycle rider would.

What is the difference between an LSM and an electric bicycle? They sometimes look much the same but the electric bicycle is required to be used as nearly as is practical to the right edge of the highway, which includes the shoulder. They also travel significantly slower, having a maximum speed of 32 km/h on level ground.

www.drivesmartbc.ca/lanes/limited-speed-motorcycles-highway-shoulder

Twenty years of traffic policing has left me wondering if today is the day that another driver will involve me in a crash. I seem to be asking myself this more and more often as I observe the behaviour of other drivers around me. Driving is probably the largest risk that I take in my life right now.

It occurred to me today that I have spent much of my time teaching others about the traffic rules here in my column. This is good knowledge to have as it will allow you to predict what other drivers will do as long as they follow these rules. However, what protection does knowing the rules provide when the other driver doesn't follow them?

I've probably mentioned defensive driving from time to time, but I don't think that I have written about it in any depth. I should have, because this provides the skills and knowledge necessary for your own self preservation when you travel the highways of our province. A little time invested learning here may pay big personal dividends one day.

It seems appropriate to finish by mentioning one of the five keys from the Smith System of defensive driving taught to me during basic training in Depot: Get the Big Picture! Fewer mistakes are made when you have the complete traffic picture around your vehicle.

"Oh yeah, I know the trailer brakes are working, I could feel them grabbing on the hill!" To me, this was almost as reliable as "The cheque's in the mail!" when it came to testing trailers with surge brakes at the roadside. This driver used the wrench I offered him to show me that there was no brake fluid in the master cylinder of the surge brake. Surprise!

As far as the brakes were concerned, this driver should have hooked up the trailer, checked the brake fluid level and condition and then conducted a tug test to ensure that the brakes were working before he left the driveway. It's simple, as aside from the wrench, all you have to do is set the breakaway brake and try to pull ahead. If the wheels don't lock, that's the end of the trip until they are repaired.

Brake fluid does not evaporate. If it is low, it is because there is a leak. It is definitely not good practice to top up the master cylinder and carry on.

Brake fluid is also hydrophilic, meaning that it will absorb water from the air. If the seal on the master cylinder is broken, the water that will accumulate in the fluid will rust the inside of the braking system rendering it useless. Keep seals in good shape and follow your trailer manufacturer's recommendations for replacing the brake fluid.

"Haven't you got anything better to do?" This was a common response from drivers after being told that they had been stopped for a traffic rule infraction. "Why aren't you out catching real criminals?"

I'm not sure they believed me when I told them that they were more likely to suffer financial loss, physical injury or death through the operation of their motor vehicles than they were from all the other criminal actions combined. Add to this fact that motor vehicle collisions are the number one cause of death for our young people and you begin to see how thoughtless these statements really are.

What these statements really meant to me is that I was dealing with a driver that either didn't care about themselves and other road users or weren't willing to accept responsibility for their actions.

Ask any driver to candidly rate their driving capability and it will be rare to find someone that thinks that they are less than better than average. By definition, half of us must be less than average. So, how do we get the lower half to realize this, much less do something about it?

I wish I had that answer for you!

]www.drivesmartbc.ca/behaviour/driving-attitude

I've always wondered about the driver in the far left lane as I used the on ramp to enter a freeway. Would they change lanes to the right while I was trying to join the flow of fast moving traffic by moving into the same lane from the left? Not everyone bothers to signal their lane changes and having to move out of the lane before it ends adds to my complications.

A solution that I like is in use in the province of Quebec. The leftmost lane on the autoroute is marked with a combination broken and solid white line for the length of the on ramp. The solid line on the left side of the broken line prevents drivers in the fast lane from moving to the right but still allows drivers in the slow lane to move over and make room if they wish to do so.

The system works when drivers follow the rules, removing one complication from the equation of joining the traffic flow for the merging driver.

Of course, a defensive driver would consider the possibility and scan for those who don't follow the rules but the job could be made simpler through the use of a small amount of white paint. This would not be a significant expense in comparison to other highway improvements aimed at reducing conflict and collisions. It would also be simple to implement in the course of repainting the lines each year.

I am guessing that most people see the code 3 operation of an emergency vehicle as something that would be exciting or thrilling. From my own experience I can say that this feeling quickly wears off and a sense of responsibility settles in. The lights and siren provide no protection for you or anyone else on the highways and the speeds involved expose us all to danger.

Two of my close colleagues have had serious crashes while operating police vehicles in this fashion. One was chasing a speeder and had another vehicle change lanes in front of him so closely that he could not avoid rear ending it. The other was responding  to an incident involving firearms. He was vehicle two in a convoy where a driver pulled over for the first police vehicle and then either failed to look or failed to see and moved back onto the highway at the instant he tried to pass by.

The latter was the case here on Vancouver Island this past week. The driver of the car that pulled out in front of the second police vehicle was not as fortunate as the two incidents I describe. She has since succumbed to the injuries that she suffered in the crash.