Police Stepping Up Vehicle Safety Checks
Monday, October 29, 2012 @ 3:59 AM
Prince George, B.C.- RCMP in Prince George will be stepping up enforcement this week to make sure vehicles on the roads, are road worthy. The check list will include looking at your tires to make sure they can handle what winter throws at us.
Last Thursday’s snowfall caught many drivers off guard and police responded to 17 crashes in a 24 hour period. They also diverted numerous other crash calls that didn’t need police attendance directly to ICBC. Some of the crashes on the slick roads involved roll overs and a number of people were sent to hospital with non life threatening injuries.
“People have to adjust their driving to the conditions at hand” says Corporal Craig Douglass, media liaison with the Prince George detachment. “ Just because your vehicle has 4×4 doesn’t mean you will be able to stop any faster on icy roads. People have to slow down and leave more space between their vehicle and the one in front of them.”
In addition to the ever changing road conditions at this time of year, Corporal Douglass says drivers have to be aware of the reduced visibility because the daylight hours are dwindling, there may be children on the road, and this is a very busy time for wildlife encounters.
“We are encouraging people to do whatever they can to make sure their vehicles are ready for the season and when the weather is bad, minimize your road trips, perhaps making three stops on one trip rather than making three separate trips.”
But be warned, police will be looking for those vehicles which should have been left in the driveway rather than taken out on to the road.
Comments
I wonder if it’s time to make snow tires mandatory on all vehicles. I think that Quebec made snow tires mandatory and vehicle incidents dropped off quite a bit.
However, even with snow tires on you still have to drive your vehicle properly….
How about the rcmp vehicle involved in the weekend crash, was it properly equipped with winter tires or were they simply driving with lack of regard for road conditions an public saftey!
Snow tires are mandatory past the signs that say winter tire or chains past this point. If you are in an accident with all season tires you have to prove the tires weren’t the cause otherwise you will be blamed for the accident. Good luck with that!
No way NoWay, snow tires are NOT mandatory. the signs are just a recommendation.
otherwise you will be blamed for the accident. Good luck with that!
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Check the ICBC website It tells us that snow ties are not mandatory and there is no mention that if you dont have them you will be responsible for the accident.
ICBC tells use not havingsnow tires will effect your claim. Of course if you back end someone you are sol. Its your problem.
Cheers
Well if people require the government to look after and anticipate their every need in regards to their own safety and well being, then I guess that winter tires should be mandated by law. Just remember not to complain when you finally realize that we are living in a nanny state.
Of course any vehicle on the road during the winter months should be equipped with winter tires it is only common sense.
metalman.
Had family that were involved in an accident near Cache Creek last week – didn’t have snow tires. They were fined before the ambulance even took them to the hospital for not having snow tires.
If you can’t avoid an incident while driving in the winter using all season tires, you should stay home. Many, many drivers out there have been running all seasons for years, (35 yrs for me) with out any incidents. A poor driver always blames something other than themselves.
Any all season, or winter tires are fine, it’s the person behind the wheel that controls them.
Some just don’t know the limitations of their vehicles.
Or themselves………
Dragonmaster; ditto
Cheers
It is quite the eye opener though when you go from all seasons to full blown winter tires. I couldn’t run winter tires for years due to income issues but now after having them on my last few vehicles I can honestly say they made a huge improvement traction wise.
However, they still cannot fix the nut behind the wheel….
NoWay: “Snow tires are mandatory past the signs that say winter tire or chains past this point. If you are in an accident with all season tires you have to prove the tires weren’t the cause otherwise you will be blamed for the accident. Good luck with that!”
As others have pointed out, this is completely made up. And as others have pointed out, snow tires won’t save you if you can’t drive properly in the first place.
All I can afford is all seasons and they work just fine for me. I have lots of weight in the back and give plenty of time to stop, which is common sense. I don’t find I have traction problems.
Well good for you guys driving with all-season tires safely. Winter tires do make a terrific difference though. I think they are very well worth the investment.
‘Bye the way, too bad the police don’t conduct the vehicle checks in early October and say, especially in the VLA. Wow, I can’t believe some of what I see on the streets and tearing around like there’s no tomorrow. Maybe just before school or playground zones would be a good place to check them too.
I should have mentioned, I have had studded snow tires on my 1 ton for the last couple of years and they are awesome. With some drivers it matters not what they have for tires, they just can’t seem to figure out that winter driving thing.
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