In October 2003, BC’s graduated licensing program (GLP) was extended from two to three years consisting of two stages, the appropriate designation for which— an “L” or “N”— must be displayed on the vehicle driven by the GLP driver.

The first stage is a 12-month “L” for “Learner” term reducible by 3 months by obtaining ICBC-approved driving training certification. During the “L” stage, the Learner driver, who must be at least 16 years old, must be accompanied by a supervisor at least 25 years old with a valid Class 5 (full privilege) driver’s license, and may have only one passenger in addition to the supervisor. The Learner driver is not allowed to drive between midnight and 5 am and no level of blood alcohol content is acceptable.

Every report of a motor vehicle accident makes us question why it happened. Was it avoidable? Whose fault was it? Of the four possible contributing factors: equipment failure, road design, road maintenance and driver behaviour, driver behaviour is most commonly (some statistics say in 95% of cases) the primary cause. Speeding, changing lanes frequently or unsafely, not signaling, tailgating, not yielding the right of way, disregarding traffic controls, and impaired driving are some of the highest risk behaviours involving various degrees of carelessness and disregard for the safety of others. But other driver behaviours — failing to react quickly enough, or failing to check carefully enough, or being ever so momentarily distracted from focusing 100% on the road are less reprehensible and may at the same time be connected to a probl

When more than one driver mistakenly identifies an exit ramp as an entrance ramp and then drives the wrong way on a major highway for a significant distance, questions are raised about the effectiveness of the highway signage. In some catastrophic “wrong way” crashes, drugs or alcohol may have been involved, and signage cannot be faulted. Nevertheless, there are “wrong way” incidents that appear to be caused by well intentioned but misguided drivers. Certainly, all road users benefit where signage is clear and legible from a safe distance.

Last week, The Road Rules’ summarized some of the statistical data on head-on collisions, a relatively rare but often fatal type of accident and provided brief guidelines on how to avoid them. The day after that article was written (Thursday January 20^th at 12:30 am) a head-on collision on the Upper Levels highway in North Vancouver took the life of a 23-year-old man returning home.

This week the first of many significant changes in the BC provincial laws addressing impaired driving have come into effect. Media coverage seems to have been sparse. However, these changes will be of interest, for one reason or another, to most drivers in BC.