2015 - BC Driving Blog

22Dec 2015 by Carmen Cohoe

Report a Pot-Hole or Issue

Driving Skills

This post was inspired by this traffic light in Vancouver on Victoria Drive & 37th When you see something is wrong, you can call the city (when you are parked) and tell them so they can fix it. City of Vancouver Call 311 Boundary Road Traffic Signal Repair call 604-871-6200 City of Victoria https://www.vicroads.vic.gov.au/traffic-and-road-use/report-a-road-issue City of Burnaby To report a traffic signal in need of repair, or if you want to make an inquiry you can contact us during regular office hours (8:00 AM to 4:45 PM, Monday to Friday) 604-294-7460 or by email at engineering@burnaby.ca. For emergencies outside of office hours please call Engineering Emergency Dispatch at 604-294-7200. City of Coquitlam If you spot any problems with a traffic signal, it should be reported right away to Engineering Customer Service at 604-927-3500. Problems include lights…

16Dec 2015 by Carmen Cohoe

Snow Plow Safety Tips from the BC Transportation Ministry

Driving Skills

Due to several recent collisions involving Snow Plows in BC, the ministry of transportation would like to remind drivers to be more careful around Snow Plows, especially on the Coquihalla Highway where the collisions occurred. Snow plow safety tips The Transportation Ministry has issued these tips for drivers on snowy highways: Turn on your head and tail lights during heavy snow or rain, even during the day. Use winter-rated snow tires with the mountain-snowflake symbol. Give snow plows plenty of space – about 10 car lengths. Salt and winter abrasives, as well as rocks and other debris in the snow, can fly – hitting nearby vehicles and decreasing visibility. Tailgating any vehicle puts you at risk of a collision; tailgating a piece of heavy equipment armed with plows only ups the…

16Dec 2015 by Carmen Cohoe

Contact Numbers to Report Traffic Signal / PotHole / Problems

Driving Skills

This post was inspired by this traffic light in Vancouver on Victoria Drive & 37th When you see something is wrong, don't just keep driving. Call the city (when you are parked) and tell them so they can fix it. City of Vancouver Call 311 Boundary Road Traffic Signal Repair call 604-871-6200 City of Burnaby To report a traffic signal in need of repair, or if you want to make an inquiry you can contact us during regular office hours (8:00 AM to 4:45 PM, Monday to Friday) 604-294-7460 or by email at engineering@burnaby.ca. For emergencies outside of office hours please call Engineering Emergency Dispatch at 604-294-7200. City of Coquitlam If you spot any problems with a traffic signal, it should be reported right away to Engineering Customer Service at 604-927-3500.…

11Apr 2015 by Carmen Cohoe

Passing on the Right to Turn Right

Insurance & Laws

Do not pass on the right to turn right, Accept your sometimes-given right to pass on the right! Hi, I had 2 quick questions. 1. At an intersection where it's only 1 lane each way, theres is often room to create 2 lanes, so the right lane can turn right. I do this purely out of convenience but I assume is in fact illegal, right? 2. I have a bad habit of resting my hands on my lap at a red light at an intersection. Would I fail if I did this, because even though I'm not moving, my hands aren't on the wheel at all times? Technically it's illegal to pass on the right unless the car in front is turning left, as per the law here: Passing on…

10Apr 2015 by Carmen Cohoe

Left Turn Traffic Light Procedure for Motorcycles – BC

Driving Skills

Left turn traffic light procedure for motorcycles Question: I took my motorcycle road test yesterday and passed. But I got called out on how I was performing left turns. My riding school drilled into us to not enter the intersection until we were sure we could proceed immediately through the turn...not to enter and wait like a car does. This is because of the vulnerable nature of motorbikes to getting hit by cross traffic and not seeing you there. In the test, I stopped at the line and waited for a gap in the oncoming (heavy) traffic but none ever appeared, even had a steady line of cars coming through the late yellow...had to wait through a second light cycle before I felt it was safe. . My tester told…

09Jan 2015 by Carmen Cohoe

Rant on Exiting Intersections on Yellow/Red (for new drivers)

Driving Skills

Q: I just failed my N road test because my instructor said I was not going the speed limit of 50km/h. I was maintaining speed of 45-48 on city roads because it was rush hour and there was alot of traffic. He also said I got a violation for being in an intersection on a red light. I was turning left so I entered the intersection on a green and waited for a good sized gap to turn but there were lots of cars turning right so I had to wait for them to merge as it was a single lane road I was turning on to. As I was waiting the light turned red and cars were still turning right so I was stuck until I had room to merge. I thought I am legally allowed to finish…

Year: 2015