RCMP in Fort St. James Step up Traffic Enforcement
Tuesday, January 19, 2016 @ 12:45 PM
Fort St. James, B.C. – Fort St. James RCMP have received an increased number of complaints about speeding vehicles including logging trucks and unsafe passing on Tachie Road and Highway 27 north of Fort St. James.
In one day, three people contacted the Fort St. James Detachment to report unsafe driving on Tachie Road. Some complaints included small commercial vehicles passing when unsafe and at high rates of speed, loaded logging trucks hugging the centre line with their trailers encroaching into on-coming lanes, logging trucks passing other logging trucks at high rates of speed.
Fort St. James RCMP conducted patrols on Tachie Road and within a short time, issued four violation tickets to loaded logging trucks for speeding. Notice and orders for deficiencies were also issued to drivers.
“Please slow down and drive to the road conditions” urges Sgt. Poppy Hallam of the Fort St James Detachment, “Personal vehicles are no match for the large commercial vehicles as witnessed on December 7, 2015 on Tachie Road with the loss of a life. Road safety is all of our responsibility.”
The Fort St. James RCMP is partnering up with RCMP North District Traffic Services, Commercial Vehicle Inspectors and other agencies to conduct random enforcement initiatives in the coming weeks.
Comments
Would be nice to see more enforcement along Hwy 97 North!
Too many, far too many logging and chip trucks going far too fast, regardless of road conditions! Come on people, slow down!
Far too many straddling the centre line! Come on people, keep your big rig in your own lane!
Far too many driving at night with exceedingly bright and ILLEGAL headlights, driving lights and light bars! Come on people, if you slowed down a bit, you might not need to see 10 miles down the highway, blinding everyone approaching you!
Nothing has changed on the old Tachie Road, made many service Calls to the Village.
Rule # 1 on this Road, Drive on the extreme right side of the Road, keep your speed down, look in the Rear View Mirror , see a Big Truck far far back, signal to the right and move over, slow down and let the them pass or do it your Way and get hit!
Light Bars have to be covered in Europe, can only be used in a Rally not on the Road, if you need that much Light ,get your Eyes Checked or quit driving !
All lighting attached to vehicles operating in BC on our streets and highways must be marked with SAE or DOT. If they aren’t they must be covered when the vehicle is driven on public streets and highways. Many people have installed high intensity discharge, (HID) lights in place of their original factory vehicle light bulbs. They are illegal unless being installed on a vehicle that comes from the factory with them. Most highway trucks operating on our hwy’s in the north are running HID lights and blinding everyone they encounter, yet our BC tax collectors, (RCMP) refuse to shut them down.
I often wonder how many of the accidents on the highways are caused by HID lighting. In the past I preferred driving at night due to reduced traffic. Not any more.
I agree oldcoot!
Night time driving is a real challenge unless you are sitting way up high out of the way of the super bright lights! Unfortunately many big rig drivers don’t seem to care that they are blinding oncoming traffic that does not enjoy the high vantage point that they have!
I asked a local member of the RCMP about the illegal headlights and light bars and was told that there is little enforcement because the operator just takes the ticket, pays it and keeps the existing lights or immediately replaces them with another illegal set!
Hey Hart, Years ago I would run to Whitehorse and or on to Dawson City for work and would use Hwy 37. Many a time it would be at night and I remember one time when around 40 mile ( if you have been there you know the country ) I spotted lights coming my way, they had to be 5 miles away,and the lights of a freight truck but it was almost as if it was daylight.As the rig got closer he shut off the bright lites that were mounted on the top of his trailer.I gave him a call on the radio and he told me that the lights were train lokomotive lites which he knew were illegle in bc and in montana (where he was from) but they had helped him out many a time. The right place for the right thing
Sitting up high in a rig doesn’t let you escape the bright lights.
poor gold miner. That’s fine as long as they aren’t too tired to remember to turn them off. After turning all that candle power off the driver behind the lights can’t see either. It’s like walking out of a brightly lit room into total darkness. It takes time for your eyes to adjust.
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