OH boy I don’t want to touch this with a 10 foot pole but I will.

All of the above is very true and I’ve been known to have a heavy foot on occasion so I am guilty just as everyone else who will post below me.

There are places in this city where the R.C.M.P. could issue 20 tickets in an hour for motorists doing none of the above but doing things just as dangerous.

Stopping in the long merge lane next to the playhouse. I’ve seen more accidents there than I care to remember.

Unsafe lane changes in any double left hand turn lane, people actually will stop after the double left when on Domano to get to the shopping on the right.

Illegal headlights, more popular every day. I doubt many here haven’t been blinded by someone who has these.

Driving 15 kmh below the speed limit, justify there right all you want it’s still dangerous, even more so during busy times.

Those are just a few off the top of my head, really if I think about it I could add several more.

The problem we have is that the R.C.M.P. are focused on 4 things. Speeding, Drinking, Seatbelts and now Texting.

The laws need to be enforced across the board equally without this the driving will worsen to the point of our roads resembling those of some of those crazy driver countries we have all seen videos from.

If you can write 20 tickets an hour in an area then you better look at they better look at the speed and either change it to better reflect the motoring public’s desires or put up a radar sign as a reminder to slow down.
What i see in town with motorists (including driving schools teaching) is cruising along in the left hand lane at slow speed. Some driver’s will actually force their way in there just to cruise along. I get stuck on Fotthills on occasion behinf what I call formation flyers. A nice tight formation all doing the same speed across 2 lanes of roadway with a bunch of other drivers stuck behind them.

I was waiting for something like this to come up. Totally agree with both statements above, i thought i needed to get my speedometer checked. I havent run into too many doing 15km/hr under the speed limit but i have definitley felt like a hazard trying to only do 5km/hr over the posted limit ( i know bad too ) but even at that i end up going much slower then the speed of traffic and am a hazard on the road. I find people are much more inclined to ride you bumper as well now, like if it were ok they would start pushing you. I know people who think the sign at the bottom of ospika hill is a game. I even had someone try to pass me because i was doing 30 km/hr in a playground zone. I cant remember ever being passed driving on single lane city roads and now its a common site. They will creep into oncoming traffic or even use the bike lane. Im not one to encourage more police but this needs to be an exception. They need to slap everyones hand and smarten them up again for however long it will last.

I find the issues on the road are that people like to drive in the left lane when they should be in the right lane. All up and down the Hart you see signs saying, keep right except to pass but people are constantly in the left lane, driving right beside the vehicle in the right lane. Either slow down and pull in behind the person in the right, or speed up, pass the person on the right and then pull over. Can’t believe how many people I have talked to that didn’t even know those signs existed. Another area is the cirlce at the end of the Cameron Street bridge, it is not a you go and then I go situation, it is a yield sign, if no one is coming on your left, GO! If everyone knew what they were doing in the circle the traffic would move way more efficiently and you wouldn’t have such long line ups and wait time.

I think vigilant traffic enforcement is a good investment and I would be willing as a taxpayer to hire more positions for this purpose. I think it pays for itself, in terms of the fines levied and more so in terms of the public safety aspect. I also think it’s a good way to “stumble” upon more serious criminal activity going on in our community.

The focused blitz attack campaigns do little to moderate behaviour, you need a constant presence out there to achieve that and we need to return to it. If it saves one innocent life, it will be worth it.

There is an ever-increasing lack of respect for our laws, period. Of course, our traffic laws are antique. Speed limits need to be raised. When you consider that the speed zones haven’t been changed in decades, and when you consider the improvements in safety from vehicles, our limits are absurdly low.

As threejsmom says, the bigger problems are bad drivers. People don’t know how to merge, people don’t know how to use roundabouts, people don’t move into the right lane when they feel the need to go slow, and people block 2-lane traffic by matching the speed of the person in the lane next to them. There are much bigger problems here than people going fast in safe vehicles.

When I can get away with it, I’ve been known to go 100+ in the stretch of the Hart Highway between the north scale and the bridge. That’s a posted 60 zone. My speed is in no way unsafe. The speed zones themselves are the problem.

lolocaust, 100kph+ between the North scale and the bridge IS unsafe due to your ability to stop if you need to. Google stopping distances according to speed and check out the difference between 60kph and 100kph. You might be fine driving that speed on the road when no one else is around but there are other people around and deer/moose, etc. You also need to think about what happens during an accident at different speeds. Speed kills.

The speed limits haven’t increased due to driver reaction times, speed limits have little to do with vehicle safety. Your speed is unsafe for the amount of traffic, pedestrians and cyclists on that stretch of road.

PGguy1234 on October 9 2012 8:34 AM “….. or put up a radar sign as a reminder to slow down.”
I liked the radar sign on Ospika, and I believe that most people slow down for it, but then they speed right back up to 60, as soon as they have passed it. So why bother? Also, that radar sign might need to be re calibrated, I don’t think it is accurate anymore. (Or my speedometer is waaaaay out.)
I think that the RCMP should be issuing more tickets, it would be an excellent revenue stream.

I drive by that speed sign on Ospika a lot and I can tell you that 98% of the time, cars just speed right by it.

The speed limit is 50 km/h there and people regularly drive by at 60 km/h at least, many at 70 km/h or more.

lolocaust: Wow, that’s quite an attitude! Seems like there is a very real false sense of security present as well.

A policeman comes to your door, and solemnly advises you your child while riding their bike was struck by a speeding car and killed. You are sad, you’re even a little angry at the driver – who will likely get a driving suspension.

Same policeman comes to your door, and solemnly advises you your child was hit by a stray bullet from a drug war gunfight. You’re angry, you want blood, and you want something done about those “damn” drugs. The shooter, if caught, is off to prison.

In both cases, your loss is the same, but society’s reaction starkly different. The irony is, there is a much greater chance of your child being killed by a distracted driver, than ever by a errant bullet – but one is so much more newsworthy than the other.

So, traffic enforcement has dropped, because drug enforcement has increased, but I personally think, we are all a lot less safe because of it. I average 10% over the limit – 66 in a 60, 88 in an 80, and I get tailgated way too often. Every now and then I try to save the planet by riding a bike to work, and 99 out of 100 drivers treat me with respect, and 1 comes close enough I think the planet can go to hell, it’s not worth the risk.

So, what do we want. Safe roads, less drugs, combination of both, or, and here’s a thought, maybe we should legalize the drugs, and then make the roads safe, and the money saved from decreased accidents can be used for rehabilitation for the increase in addicts. And I agree, we’ll have more stoned drivers on the road – who tend to drive slower because they’re stoned, versus drunk drivers, who tend to drive faster because they’re pumped and invincible.

I left home today and went downtown at 9:30 am, Along the way I came across a car stopped in the merge lane (Cowart onto hwy 16) a little further along an older VW sedan had headlights that made me squint even in the sunshine. From the superstore to tha casino a Pontiac van with a home business advertising on the back window felt it needed to occupy 2 feet of the right lane as well as the left. Oh yes this all was happening at a speed of 40 to 50 kmh.

it did give me a rather nasty idea though, believe I am going to mount a go-pro camera to my dashboard and post this stupidity to a yet unnamed website. Perhaps a little public humiliation would change some of these crappy habits.

Lolocaust: Not sure if trolling or if you’re just a……oh wait….don’t want to get into trouble here :)

Vehicle safety ratings are not the issue. I can guarantee that you cannot react fast enough to an emergency situation at 60 kph let alone one at 100 kph. Our streets and roads are not designed for vehicles that travel in excess of 110 kph. Its that simple. You see it all the time. People go sailing into 60-70-80 kph corners and slide right into the rhubarb because THEY cannot handle the speed. Sure the car can…but you can’t.

The one that gets me is transport/logging trucks blowing through red lights. I drove my kids accross hwy 16 at superstore for years. You never proceed when the light turns green untill you survail the traffic. These trucks speed up for yellow lights and many clearly speed through a full red at 70k. There is going to be a minivan full of kids wiped out one day. The cops should set up camp at these intersections and nail these trucks. The downside is huge. Improperly merging? not so much.

Lolocaust – So you say that speeding is not an issue, its the “bad drivers”. Here is the problem with your opinion: What happens when one of the “bad drivers” turns in front of you when you are doing 100kmh instead of 60?

interceptor – here is the answer in case Lolocaust doesnt know – The police officer has job security because you will be dead or worst yet in the hosipal for the rest of your life ……;..

Don”t worry someone might come visit you for 10 minutes or so for the first couple of weeks

Drivers in Prince George have a difficult time with merge lanes. Stopping in a merge lane instead of speeding up is one of the most dangerous hings ne can do, especially during times of heavy traffic.

It takes two to tango in that case – the driver in the merge lane an the drivers in the lane adjacent to it who must make room for the driver moving in from the left. For many, this is counter-intuitive and one has to place trust on fellow drivers. Allowing a driver into the lane is not a courtesy, it is a requirement of safe driving

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4fJIdMG-2WQ

The Laws of Physics are the same everywhere including Prince George, so some think you can stop at 100 kmh the same as at 60 kmh , you must think it’s different for you and you are “Special”

While speed is an important factor, one of the key factors is closing speed.

When driving at 100 versus the posted limti f 60, the closing speed is 40.

When stopped in a merge lane the oncoming driver who is going from a 50km zone to a 70km zone may have a closing speed of 50+ to 70 when hitting the stopped vehicle ….

Respect for the motor vehicle moving laws is one thing.

KSA – knowledge, skill, attitude – three things which go together with any applied skill.

Obeying the law is primarly an attitude thing.

From my observations knowledge of the techniques of driving and the actual skills of driving is more often the problem.

The intersection of 3rd going west with second going west is another one wich a lot of people do not understand. I have seen people stop at Vancouver, where there is no sign at all, and go right through the stop sign, even with traffic coming along second.

It is called driving with undue care and regard.

I managed a licence plate number and good visual description of the bearded goof that attempted to run my wife and I off the hwy yesterday afternoon near Christopher Rd up the Hart.

I will bump into you some day. :-)

“You never proceed when the light turns green untill you survail the traffic.”

Yup, thats called defensive driving.

If you drive into an intersection before making sure all is well, then you’re not a defensive driver.

I drive slightly slower then the speed limit most of the time but I stay right. Gas is expensive and my truck is hard on gas.

Another thing I think about is that if a drunk driver hits me or another car. I am still glad I am in a truck and not in a car or suv

If other person is in the wrong and kills you, it really doesn’t matter anymore cause your dead. I feel that if your used to driving fast (like I was maybe 5 years ago) then you slow down to the limit or so, you will probley not pay attention anymore cause its soo slow. So while I don’t condone speeding whats worse speeding or going slow and not paying attention anymore?

People need to be more aware of and give more room to those with learners decals on there cars IMO.

It constantly amazes me that people are crying for higher speed limits when most drivers out there cannot handle the ones we currently have. A bad driver does not get miraculously better just because they are going faster…..

As they do in some places, have truck lanes as well as HOV lanes and now more and more bike lanes, they need to set up texting lanes.

If we were to set up different lanes, then the drivers who keep their eyes, ears and brains on the driving tasks will have fewer accidents, and those who don’t care about their poor driving habits will have more accidents …… and maybe will decide to learn more quickly how one is supposed to drive. ;-)

Learners Decals???

You mean the L does not stand for Loser?