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The Greater Victoria traffic incident/accident thread


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#6641 aastra

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Posted 05 October 2021 - 03:25 PM

Was it related to the bland panels at the top of Yates on Yates?


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#6642 pontcanna

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Posted 08 October 2021 - 01:00 PM

Still a lot of work to be done on impaired driving

John Ducker / The Times Colonist

OCTOBER 8, 2021 

It was disturbing to read last August that VicPD ran out of both tow trucks and officer time to process the number of impaired drivers they intercepted in downtown and Esquimalt road blocks. Twenty-four suspected impaireds in a matter of a few hours.

An aberration? Perhaps it was just a pleasant summer night combined with some unbridled party fever, a need to imbibe as COVID restrictions were finally loosening up at last. I doubt it.

In 2010, B.C. enacted some of the toughest drunk driving laws in Canada and long term they have been effective, particularly in reducing alcohol related driving deaths. But like most other jurisdictions, public complacency sets in after time. Initially cases drop but eventually impaired drivers climb back behind the wheel and cases start rising again. B.C. numbers are generally good in comparison but as we saw last August there’s work to be done. Too much work.

Even before COVID there was trouble. In 2019 police agencies reported 85,673 incidents of impaired driving in Canada. That was nearly 20% higher than 2018 and the highest it’s been in 10 years. What is perhaps more disturbing is that the rate of alcohol-impaired driving incidents, usually meaning crashes, including times when impairment was caused by both alcohol and drugs, increased by 15%. The rate of drug-impaired driving rose 43%. Any post COVID euphoria would have no bearing on these stats.

 

Morehttps://www.timescol...ving-1.24362365

 



#6643 A Girl is No one

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Posted 08 October 2021 - 08:53 PM

Looks like they are doing a roadblock checking for drunk drivers tonight on Fairfield at Quadra.

#6644 Spy Black

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Posted 09 October 2021 - 06:54 AM

That's a very common location for them to set up ... they love those blind curves with no exits for the guilty.

 

Another very (very!) common place for them to set up is on Interurban Road right underneath the McKenzie Road overpass ... they've got you cold going both directions, and you'll never see it coming. It's on my way home from work, and that specific roadblock is up so often that I get a little sick of going through it quite frankly.

 

Best solution (as always) is to completely refrain from drinking and driving.


Edited by Spy Black, 09 October 2021 - 06:55 AM.

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#6645 pontcanna

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Posted 15 October 2021 - 09:19 AM

Some ordinary drivers who became angels
  • Times Colonist
  • 15 Oct 2021
  • JOHN DUCKER

medal.png

Drivers who risked their lives to help rescue others have been honoured with the Governor-General’s award for bravery.

 

We often tend to think the worst of the drivers around us. They cut us off. They drive too fast or too slow. Often they seem to move heedlessly in their “me first” universe. There is some truth in that. But today let’s talk about some others, heroes who just appear out there suddenly, angels actually, who will go all in for us in the darkest driving moments.

 

Here are some examples: Trevor Mills was driving through Kootenay National Park one night back in May. In front of him was a Chevy Tahoe swerving from ditch to oncoming lane, nearly hitting several cars head-on. Calling for help was futile. Now deep in the mountains there was no cell service. It was just a matter of time before the Tahoe veered off the road and tumbled down a 150foot embankment near Radium Hot Springs.

 

Mills stopped immediately and scaled the steep drop. Reaching the vehicle, he pulled the occupant from the driver’s seat just as the Tahoe twisted and rolled over top of him. His pelvis and ribs were crushed, his heart and lungs were bruised and he suffered internal bleeding. Rescue crews arrived on scene and Mills was airlifted to a Calgary hospital. He’s still recovering after weeks in hospital.

 

The Tahoe driver was arrested for impaired driving and refusing breath samples. Local RCMP hailed Mills as: “… one good samaritan.” No kidding.

 

Morehttps://www.timescol...gels-1.24363950

 



#6646 pontcanna

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Posted 22 October 2021 - 06:54 AM

Snap out of routine mode and deliberately ask yourself: ‘Is there a pedestrian, cyclist, skateboarder there?’
  • Times Colonist
  • 22 Oct 2021
  • JOHN DUCKER

 

A few years ago when I bought myself a newer used vehicle, I started having regular close calls with pedestrians in crosswalks or cars coming in from my left or my right, say at a four-way stop. I’d start to pull forward only to find a wide mouthed pedestrian almost in front of me and usually not wishing me a nice day. Car drivers whom I cut off seemed to prefer more interpretive physical expression, usually involving one finger.

 

It took me a few weeks to figure it out. This was a newer vehicle, equipped with side curtain airbags, and in order to house them the front window posts needed three or four more inches of width. My world driving view had suddenly been reduced by six to eight inches. Doesn’t sound like much but it is, actually.

 

A while ago I heard a radio pundit excoriating Toronto drivers and the way they were mowing down pedestrians like wheat. It felt like he was asking for something just short of the death sentence for offending drivers. I thought of my own close calls and wondered. Maybe one day someone should look into the enlarged window-post syndrome and its possible effect on the Toronto numbers.

 

The point, however, is that the size of your airbag posts, the shape of your windows, the obstruction from the bobblehead on your dash are irrelevant. As a driver you are responsible for the conduct of your car and you are legally responsible to see what’s out there. Like the traffic court judge often said to a violator who claimed they honestly didn’t see something on the road, usually a red light or a speed sign: “Interesting excuse … but no defence.”

 

Morehttps://www.timescol...here-1.24365376



#6647 Mike K.

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Posted 22 October 2021 - 07:09 AM

Some cars have horrible a-pillar designs. Larger SUVs seem to have this figured out well, whether it’s angles or positioning, but they’re done right.

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#6648 pontcanna

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Posted 29 October 2021 - 05:39 AM

John Ducker: Value of countdown timers still up for debate

The jury’s out for me about the value of those countdown timers next to pedestrian walk signals. Researching the topic over the past few weeks hasn’t given me a definite conclusion either.

The Times Colonist, October 29, 2021
 
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One cause of traffic congestion, writes John Ducker, is that pedestrians now use the countdown timer and not the Don't Walk or hand signal as their guide, which holds up drivers trying to make a legal right turn on a red light.

The jury’s out for me about the value of those countdown timers next to pedestrian walk signals. Researching the topic over the past few weeks hasn’t given me a definite conclusion either. Some studies suggest they work, others don’t and still more are inconclusive.

What I see whenever I drive through town are walkers consistently breaking the law when they cross through intersections with pedestrian signals.

Morehttps://www.timescol...-debate-4701766
 


#6649 Victoria Watcher

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Posted 29 October 2021 - 06:12 AM

i tend to agree.  not sure if they are good or bad.  i'll usually go at 6 seconds or more.


Edited by Victoria Watcher, 29 October 2021 - 06:12 AM.


#6650 pontcanna

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Posted 29 October 2021 - 11:18 AM

Witness Sought In Esquimalt Collison

 

Date: Friday, October 29th, 2021 - File: #21-42288

 

Victoria, BC – Patrol officers are asking for a witness to come forward as they continue to investigate a traffic collision that sent a man to hospital.

 

Patrol officers were called to the intersection of Selkirk Avenue and Tillicum Road just before 4:30 p.m. on October 19th for a report of a collision between two vehicles. When officers arrived, BC Ambulance Service paramedics were already in the process of treating a man for his injuries. He was transported to hospital with non-life-threatening, but potentially life-altering injuries.

 

The collision was captured by dashcam.

 

Officers need to speak with a driver of a white Mercedes SUV who was present during the crash but left before speaking with officers. Witnesses reported that they believed the driver to be female. Officers believe that this driver has key information needed for the investigation. A still image of the Mercedes SUV is below.

 

If you are the driver of the white Mercedes SUV or have information about this incident please call the VicPD Report Desk at (250) 995-7654 extension 1. To report what you know anonymously, please call Greater Victoria Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.

 

InkedFurther-screengrab-for-release_LI-1

 



#6651 pontcanna

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Posted 05 November 2021 - 04:27 PM

John Ducker: For safety's sake, it's time to limit passenger vehicle size

 

Large high-grilled SUVs and trucks cause more fatal injuries to pedestrians and cyclists than their lower-built passenger car contemporaries
 

ducker.png

Large high-grilled trucks and SUVs cause more fatal injuries to vulnerable road users such as pedestrians and cyclists than their lower-built passenger car contemporaries, writes John Ducker. 

 

I had one pull up next to me in a parking lot the other day. The ground shook, the sun was blocked out, as the driver of what resembled Darth Vader’s Imperial cruiser took two attempts to manoeuvre into the adjacent parking space. It was one of those jacked up 4X4 land dreadnoughts with tires the size of an old timey mill’s water wheel.

 

Loud, gas guzzling and decidedly unmanoeuvrable in an urban environment, that thing cannot possibly be safe, was my thought at the time. And some research later showed that I was probably right. Of course, there’s a distinction between customized high-lift 4X4s and larger passenger trucks and SUVs. But in terms of road safety, collisions between smaller and larger vehicles are a growing worry.

 

Morehttps://www.timescol...le-size-4724403

 

 



#6652 Mike K.

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Posted 06 November 2021 - 05:08 AM

And they’re likely much smaller than the trucks Mr. Ducker grew up with. Who doesn’t remember the jacked trucks of the 80s? And is a 2015 Chevy Suburban more dangerous than a 1970 Chevy Suburban?

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#6653 Victoria Watcher

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Posted 06 November 2021 - 01:11 PM

In celebration of "canopener day" on 11/8 we're posting this video of the crashes since last November, after the bridge was raised. Despite the COVID lockdown the bridge still snagged 9 trucks or campers in the last 12 months. We hope you enjoy this compilation!

 

 

 

The train trestle prominently featured in all the videos here has earned a reputation for its unrelenting enforcement of the laws of physics. If your vehicle is taller than 11 feet and 8 inches, and you challenge this bridge, you might find footage of your experience on this website. If you have any questions about this, email me at info [at] 11foot8.com.

 

 

YouTube:  https://youtu.be/-CmDZ-oEtB0

 

 

 

 

Jurgen Henn was a few weeks into starting his job at Duke when he heard a sound that nearly knocked him out of his seat in his Brightleaf Square office. 

 

“There was this incredible crashing noise outside,” said Henn, an IT manager for the Center for Autism and Brain Development in the Duke School of Medicine. “I wandered down to see what happened. A tractor-trailer had gotten stuck underneath the railroad bridge.”

 

In 2008, Henn set up a camera on the second floor of Brightleaf Square and one outside of Morgan Imports to capture vehicles getting stuck or damaged trying to pass under the 11-foot-8-inch train trestle, known as the “Can Opener Bridge,” at the intersection of S. Gregson and W. Peabody streets in Durham. 

 

https://today.duke.e...ner-bridge’-cam


Edited by Victoria Watcher, 06 November 2021 - 01:12 PM.

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#6654 marks_28

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Posted 06 November 2021 - 01:38 PM

And they’re likely much smaller than the trucks Mr. Ducker grew up with. Who doesn’t remember the jacked trucks of the 80s? And is a 2015 Chevy Suburban more dangerous than a 1970 Chevy Suburban?


Sure, there might be specific examples of trucks in the 70s and 80s that are just as large as the current models, but I’d suggest those cases are quite rare. All in, there are far more trucks and SUVs on the road now then back then, and that is where the danger lies.

#6655 Victoria Watcher

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Posted 06 November 2021 - 01:45 PM

Most of the danger is pedestrians putting themselves in harms way. With no escape. Not the drivers.

#6656 Mike K.

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Posted 06 November 2021 - 01:46 PM

Dude, “specific examples?”

Do you have any idea how massive cars were in 1970? They're a fraction of the size they once were, but Teslas sure are heavy, thanks to their batteries.

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#6657 marks_28

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Posted 06 November 2021 - 01:48 PM

Are you saying that on average, cars were heavier in the 1970s than they are now?

#6658 Mike K.

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Posted 06 November 2021 - 03:09 PM

No, I’m saying dad’s coupe and mom’s station wagon were huge compared to today’s vehicles. Teslas are heavy, comparatively speaking in regards to vehicles of modern decades.

Modern cars are also safer for pedestrians, but when you start modifying them, that changes things, for sure.

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#6659 Victoria Watcher

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Posted 06 November 2021 - 03:14 PM

A “heavy” Tesla hitting a person has very little different outcome (for the pedestrian) than your Ford Fiesta hitting a pedestrian at the same speed.

Physics.

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 06 November 2021 - 03:15 PM.


#6660 Mike K.

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Posted 06 November 2021 - 03:19 PM

Yes, true. Cars are much smaller today, but coincidentally the heaviest vehicles are also EVs, by class.

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