Road Rules

Does summertime music from your car radio mesh well with a jackhammer beat? Could this be because jack hammering is such a common auditory background for summer driving? Summer is road construction season and summer 2003 is no exception. Check out www.city.vancouver.bc.ca and select the menu item “road construction" for an impressive list of all such current activities in the City of Vancouver. Other municipalities in the lower mainland also list current roadwork projects on their websites.

Summer is the season for road trips. In planning their trip, travelers ponder when and where they will travel, where they will stay, what vehicle maintenance is required, how many hours of driving will be required each day, whether or not the driving can be shared, how much luggage each traveler can bring, and so on. Of summer road trips, some might say, borrowing from Yogi Berra—ninety percent of the trip is half planning.  

Summer is finally here which means more cyclists on Vancouver streets—fair-weather cyclists often less experienced than the stalwarts who ride year-round. More carefree cyclists pedaling past more rows of parked cars: is this image idyllic or ominous for you? Whether you identify with the cyclist or with the driver about to exit one of the cars, you would be wise to have a twinge of foreboding. A door suddenly and unexpectedly opened directly into the path of a moving cyclist can cause much grief for both parties to such an accident. The start of summer is, therefore, a good time to remind drivers about the motor vehicle rules concerning opening car doors.

“Running Red Lights" is a great name for a rock band. It signifies youthful rebelliousness, wildness, freedom and unwillingness to play by the rules—life in the “fast lane." It’s all so a great name for a racehorse. Its significance on a police motor vehicle accident report, however, is very different, often linked as an “Apparent Contributing Factor" to a notation of severe injury or death. 

You have just reached an intersection and the traffic light is a steady yellow. Steady means that it is not flashing. There are no cars behind you and the road is dry. What should you do? Would your answer differ if you were still traveling at full speed when the light changed from green to yellow? Would your answer differ if there were cars close behind you and the road was wet or icy?