Behind the Wheel - June 14, 2006: Reporting Traffic Violations

[skidmark]

Reporting Traffic Violations

As a commuter, I would really like to see the article written about what to do when we see a commercial transport vehicle that is driving in an unsafe manner re-appear in the column. You gave us a phone number to call that specifically relates to tractor trailers, and who to call when we witness a driving infraction. I see it on a regular basis and most of the times the trucks are unmarked.

Report Commercial Vehicle Safety Violations:

• Province Wide 1-888-775-8785
• Sea to Sky Highway 1-866-WATCH99
• Fraser Canyon 1-888-801-8884

The trucking community shares your concern. The majority of the drivers don't care to be labeled as dangerous because of the actions of a few. They also point out that the majority of collisions between heavy trucks and light vehicles are the fault of the light vehicle driver. This is difficult to corroborate in BC as ICBC does not publish determination of fault in their annual collision statistics report.

If the truck driving is truly dangerous, a call to 911 or other police emergency number is appropriate. The telephone numbers listed here will trigger after the fact investigations that will not stop a situation in progress.

To be effective, you will have to be ready to act as a witness in court to support charges against the driver. In cases where you are unwilling to do this, the information is passed on to the driver or company for action as they see fit. Repetitive complaints without charges do not result in any public sanctions being taken to halt the improper behaviour.

Heavy trucks intimidate other traffic through sheer size. I wonder if we tolerate identical behaviour from drivers of smaller vehicles because we see it more often and don't feel as threatened by it. Food for thought...

Reference Links

[3G]

Yesterday I was being tail gated by a school bus then she pulled beside me and gave me a WTF look

[sexualbanana]

In a slightly unrelated issue, what's the procedure for investigating a civilian complaint about traffic violations? Two friends of mine got a ticket delivered to them when another driver had complained to police about their "alleged" dangerous driving.

How do the police go about investigating something like this?

[Traffic_Cop]

Originally posted by sexualbanana
In a slightly unrelated issue, what's the procedure for investigating a civilian complaint about traffic violations? Two friends of mine got a ticket delivered to them when another driver had complained to police about their "alleged" dangerous driving.

How do the police go about investigating something like this?

Basically the Police recieve the complaint. The complainant is willing to testify in court, and provides a statement. Both are subpoened for court..Police say..."I received a complaint for blah...blah...blah, and wrote a ticket to Mr/Mrs...blah, who is the Reg owner of the vehicle."....then complainant then gives evidence, defendant gives evidince.....Judge decides.

[kaput]

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[Traffic_Cop]

^^^ Good question, and this would relate to a Bylaw. As far as I recall, parking is the act of stopping. Trust me I totally understand where you are coming from...if someone needed the stall, you would have moved right??? (I hope so)...however the fact that you stopped and occupied this stall, in most communities would constitue an offence.

[Alex_FORD]

I'm reminded of a fictional/comedy novel that I read a few years ago.

There was a terrorist group that would watch and monitor the handicapped parking.....and when they found a parking lot that had too many spots that went unused, they would park derelict cars in them, or blow the parking spots up.

If only I was more of an activist .....

[theken]

what is considered dangerous driving in a semi, i am a class one driver and used to be downtown alot. people are so goddam ignorant to trucks by not letting them in when they have there signal on or speeding up in a turning lane to blow past you while you are turning right on a 2 way, sometimes these guys have to drive insane just to get where they are going.
i know i have cut my fair share of people off just because they are assholes. and dont forget if a semi has his right signal on and moves over to the left, he isnt turning left he is tying to make the turn wider so he doesnt hit the curb.

also to all the people who read this on beyond, when you stop behind a tractor trailer unit at a red light or somehwere, move over to the sides a bit so you can see his mirrors, we had a little incident involving one of our trucks and a mustang a couple days ago, driver didnt know mustang was 3 feet behind him and had to make an emergency back up and ran over the hood of the mustang.

[kaput]

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[skidmark]

If you want to see stupid things done around a semi, check out the SemiCam web site at http://www.semicam.ca

[nonsane]

^^^
lol i've had wayyyy worse.