Speed limit enforcement in British Columbia

[Canadian Mind]

Originally Posted by Genauso

I believe the Coquihalla highway has variable speed limits; it's certainly the exception.

No, it doesn't. That said, I don't think it needs it. Just stick an infinity symbol on the speed limit sign. People tend to drive for the conditions on that road when warranted.

[trofirhen]

Originally Posted by Canadian Mind

No, it doesn't. That said, I don't think it needs it. Just stick an infinity symbol on the speed limit sign. People tend to drive for the conditions on that road when warranted.

Agreed, but this confers good driving common sense on the population, and most drivers have that. However there are always those very few, but nevertheless irresponsible drivers who may abuse the freedom and thus pose a hazard.

[WarrenC12]

Originally Posted by SFUVancouver

The officer refused to take a statement so that I could file a report. Unbelievable. It still gets me pulse rate up thinking about that. I did make a complaint to the company and their GM called me back and apologised and explained that the driver was one of their most experienced staff and had never had an incident before. None the less, he would talk to him and hoped that this would satisfy my concern.

That type of stuff really pisses me off. I mean really, WTF are we paying police to do if not enforce the law?

Somehow $160+ for these type of infractions is both "too expensive" and "not worth it to enforce" at the same time depending who you talk to.

[jlenko]

I'd rather we pay the police to enforce things like property crime.. put drug dealers away.. deal with robberies, etc.. than speed enforcement.

I agree with most people.. the limits are far too low. Cross the border at Aldergrove, and you're in a 50 MPH zone, on a 2-lane back road. That's 80 km/h.. which is the same limit posted on the new SFPR, which is a four-lane divided highway. What a f'n joke - It should be 100 km/h, at least.. and Hwy 1 in its entirety should be 110.

[East Van]

Cash mother******* grab. The route even has a couple of roundabouts & splits Lynden.

[whatnext]

The most egregious speeding incidents I've witnessed recently have been on the Arthur Laing Bridge involving a certain demographic driving expensive cars recklessly at night. Whe I dialled 911 they sounded disinterested.

[AverageJoe]

Originally Posted by SFUVancouver

I had a situation a few years ago when I was crossing Cordova Street at Bute St. I was in the middle of the crosswalk, heading north, and had just walked in front of a westbound Big Red Bus that was waiting at the stop line preparing to turn left onto Bute.

Suddenly, the bus accelerated as I was in front of it and instinctively I exclaimed my surprise and looked up at the driver while jumping a metre to the left to be clear of its initial forward motion. ....

I was almost flattened by a Big Red Bus once while crossing Beatty along Pender. The bus came screaming down the hill on Beatty to turn east onto Pender while I was in the crosswalk and had to brake hard. The light was red for his bus. The driver had the gall to yell at me for being into the crosswalk while the hand was flashing.

I've had several close very calls downtown as a pedestrian and encounters with angry and aggressive drivers. (Perhaps surprisingly, none of the drivers have been Asian).

[renthefinn]

Originally Posted by Klazu

One thing that always amazes me is how reckless driving culture Vancouver has. Especially speeding is a major issue and you can regularly see people doing 30-50km/h over the speed limit on Highway 1 and other highways. Driving "the standard" 10km/h above the speed limit will make you a traffic bottleneck in BC, which is something I have not seen so much anywhere else.

I am sure there are many reasons, but I am curious why there is so little law enforcement targeted to speeding in British Columbia? I have never seen a speed trap during my 2.5 years in here. Neither have I ever seen a patrol car on highway, pulling people over. One just needs to go across the border to Washington state and you see constantly people having been pulled over. I am not saying it reduces the amount of speeding in Washington vs. here, but at least they have active law enforcement happening.

I hate speed traps and cameras as much as everyone, but I find it interesting how in here police speed traps are announced even on the radio. In Europe that would be illegal and would never happen, but here they regularly inform drivers of speed traps. Is this really legal and do they do that also in other provinces?

Speed cameras are another topic that keeps puzzling me. Do we have those in BC or not? I have been reading some articles of Gordon Campbell having campaigned against them back in 2001, but did that lead to them being removed throughout the province or do those still exist? Red light cameras do exist (and good so), but I have never seen a speed camera in BC.

Last thing that I have been wondering are the signs they have along BC highways warning drivers of traffic laws being enforced by cameras. What exactly do those mean if there are no speed cameras? One sign exists on eastbound Upper Levels Highway, just after Horseshoe Bay.

I would really appreciate if someone would be able to answer these questions that I have been wondering since I moved in here.

Spend a little more time on Vancouver Island, you will find some speed traps there.