710 replies to this topic

[sebberry]

You're stuck in traffic because the cops have shut down the road for a parade.  You want to phone your boss/client/spouse/etc to say you'll be late.  You're sitting still, staring at a parade and pick up your phone.  The cop who has the road blocked tickets you for Use of Electronic Device While Driving.  While you're stopped, watching a parade.

 

That was the case for one caller into CKNW this last week. 

 

And the cop on CFAX would have been Grant Gottgetreu.  I believe he has the record for the most (2,000+) excessive speed impounds.  Now he defends the drivers. 

[sebberry]

The guy seemed to have the stats.  I'm unclear what his point was exactly though.  I'd guess that anyone that checks their cellphone at a red light is also more likely to check it while rolling.  Unless you are a dispatched delivery driver I'm unclear why you need to check it so often.  And in that case, have a nice big dash display. 

 

   

 

And Mike is right, who is going to admit to using a phone after a crash, and then get hit with more penalties?   

 

Try using that to find another route on your GPS when you're stuck in traffic.  Illegal!

[VicHockeyFan]

When I was a kid we did not have GPS for local driving.  We just kinda knew how to get places, also knew how to read a map when necessary. 

 

People these days...  

Edited by VicHockeyFan, 10 February 2018 - 09:16 AM.

[Cats4Hire]

How often is there a surprise parade at a time when one would be going to work? Also should flipping through a giant map book be legal while driving to try and find a new route?

[VicHockeyFan]

How often is there a surprise parade at a time when one would be going to work? Also should flipping through a giant map book be legal while driving to try and find a new route?

 

You pull over, read the map, understand it, then drive to the destination.

 

Out the highway, right on Millstream, right on Treanor, then third left is Becky's Lane.  Got it.

[Cats4Hire]

And what's stopping someone from pulling over, adjust the GPS,drive to the destination?

[Star Dust]

Myself......I don't touch my cell phone when driving.  I have Blue Tooth built into my car and all my controls are on my steering wheel, or I can use VOICE command if I chose that option.

 

Texting?......I have never been a big texter so that doesn't even apply to me. I mean their is nothing I need to say that can't wait until I am at home or out of my car.

[rjag]

Last weekend I was listening to an Excellent interview on C-Fax with a retried police officer who is against ticketing cell phone users while at red lights etc.  Boy, you should have heard the interview, and the statistics he pulled up to PROVE that the actual amount of deaths in BC Caused directly by cell phone use distraction is actually extremely LOW in comparison to all the other kinds of distracted driving accidents.

 

You see, distracted driving is a definition this retired cop wants to change in BC Laws because it involves too many aspects. Things such as eating while driving, looking down to change the station on your radio, reaching over to grab your cup of coffee from the coffee holder etc.  And he gave stats on how many accidents in BC were caused by alternative forms of distracted driving other then cell phone use, and they out-numbered the accidents caused by cell phone distraction by quite a bit.

 

Great interview.  And I hope he is able to get through to our Minister of Transportation.

 

 

heres the video article with the cop being interviewed

 

https://globalnews.c...s-exaggerated/ 

[Star Dust]

heres the video article with the cop being interviewed

 

https://globalnews.c...s-exaggerated/ 

 

 

Excellent and brilliant. This  retired COP is  a stand up guy coming out to defend the people of BC by saying how it really is, and exposing the misinformation put out their by ICBC.

[sebberry]

And what's stopping someone from pulling over, adjust the GPS,drive to the destination?

 

You're stuck in traffic, there's construction, a crash.. whatever.  What's the harm in zooming in on your map screen to see if the side road to your right goes anywhere? The law puts that on the same level as texting while navigating freeway traffic.

[Cats4Hire]

You're stuck in traffic, there's construction, a crash.. whatever.  What's the harm in zooming in on your map screen to see if the side road to your right goes anywhere? The law puts that on the same level as texting while navigating freeway traffic.

Are you allowed to pull a map book out and do the same thing? (Actual question I don't know). Also we don't know what the rule will be. Maybe they will change it to add exceptions. You're already allowed to call 911 while driving. 

[VicHockeyFan]

Ya you can look at a map while at a red.

[Star Dust]

Are you allowed to pull a map book out and do the same thing? (Actual question I don't know). Also we don't know what the rule will be. Maybe they will change it to add exceptions. You're already allowed to call 911 while driving. 

 

It's at the discretion of the cop if they want to ticket you or not for alternate forms of distracted driving other then Cell Phone.

 

They are less likely to ticket you for eating a cheese burger while driving or changing the station on your radio. But they can if they want to.

Edited by Star Dust, 10 February 2018 - 02:59 PM.

[sebberry]

Fun fact: BC doesn't have a "Distracted Driving" law.

 

There's Use Electronic Device, Driving without reasonable consideration, Driving without due care, or if you have a dog on your lap - Driving with controls obstructed.

 

The reason we have a law on the use of electronic devices is that there's no need for the crown to prove that you were in any way distracted, or even that you were distracted.

[Midnightly]

if your at a stoplight.. you are stopped, not moving waiting for the light to change yet it's illegal to say change the song on your ipod, or check that missed call, things that only take a few moments but perfectly ok to change a CD or flip through the radio.. i fully agree they should not be used while the car is moving..but while the car is stopped and you waiting for a light to change is it so bad to change a song?

[Star Dust]

if your at a stoplight.. you are stopped, not moving waiting for the light to change yet it's illegal to say change the song on your ipod, or check that missed call, things that only take a few moments but perfectly ok to change a CD or flip through the radio.. i fully agree they should not be used while the car is moving..but while the car is stopped and you waiting for a light to change is it so bad to change a song?

 

The thinking behind that is that you will not notice when the light turns green because you are distracted by using the cell phone.

 

Personally I see it almost everyday where I am behind someone at a red light, the light goes green and the driver fails to acknowledge the light because they are distracted with their phones.

Edited by Star Dust, 11 February 2018 - 02:11 PM.

[sebberry]

The thinking behind that is that you will not notice when the light turns green because you are distracted by using the cell phone.

 

Personally I see it almost everyday where I am behind someone at a red light, the light goes green and the driver fails to acknowledge the light because they are distracted with their phones.

 

That's when you have evidence that they're distracted and nail them with a penalty. 

 

The ones who put their phone down before the light turns aren't the problem.

[Mike K.]

I suspect proving the reason behind a missed light change would be extremely difficult unless the individual is filmed using their phone as the light changes, which would be tricky to do well enough for it to be admissible.

[rjag]

Interesting reading the minutes of the CRD Traffic Safety meeting.

 

https://www.crd.bc.c...fvrsn=6df14ca_2

 

 

S/Sgt. Marc Chateau, Saanich Police, gave the following update: • Always trying to keep the mandate of their unit in mind which is to make roads safer.  Extra speed reader boards are being used throughout the municipality to address concerns.  About 5000 driving complaints a year are received.  Most of the reports from speed reader boards show no excessive speeding issue.  Regarding the idea of changing the speed on all neighbourhood streets to 30 km/h as mentioned today, there would need to be much more information gathered.  The speed reader board program has been effective, and it is planned to maximize it.  It does allow police to target the areas where they see there is a speeding issue.  Regarding some of the recent high-profile crashes in Saanich, there hasn’t been any evidence they have been caused by speed limits or road design

 

 

I guess they wont want that to be advertised as it doesnt support their agenda

[rjag]

https://www.spectato...ar-speed-limit/

 

 

The consequences of the new EU car speed limit

& Fence Theory

 

 

This is a variant of ‘fence theory’. When rules are imposed centrally, everyone outsources judgment to the central authority, losing the skill, experience and safety-in-diversity that arises from individuals exercising instinctive judgment, learning from small individual mistakes rather than big collective ones.