Motor vehicle law column by Tim Schewe

The use of vehicle impoundment as part of an array of penalties to discourage improper driving behaviour will expand significantly when amendments to the Motor Vehicle Act become law on September 20, 2010. In every case the cost of the impoundment will be the responsibility of the owner of the vehicle. If the owner was not the driver at the time, they may recover costs from the driver as a debt in any court of competent jurisdiction.

In the case of an impaired driver with a Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC) over 80 mg% or who refuses to provide a breath sample, there will be a 24 hour vehicle impound if the driver is proceeded against under the Criminal Code. The impoundment period rises to 30 days if the officer decides to proceed using the Immediate Roadside Prohibition provisions of the Motor Vehicle Act instead. This new process will be the subject of future columns.

Drivers whose BAC falls between 50 and 80 mg% currently receive a 24 hour impoundment with their 24 hour prohibition. This will become a 3 day impoundment for a first instance, a 7 day impoundment for a second instance, and a 30 day impoundment for any subsequent instance that occurs within a 5 year period.

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.

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.

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.