Got $173 to spare? Want to waste 3 points? Thought not… get wise to this new legal requirement in B.C. then. From 1st Jan 2015 drivers need to slow down and move over of all official vehicles. Currently the law requires drivers to do this for emergency vehicles, but there has been some confusion about when you need to slow down and move over.
You’ll be glad to hear things have been clarified, and this should make roads safer for those who have to work on them, from tow trucks to highways maintainance.
What does ‘slow down, move over’ mean?
- slow to 70 km/h in a zone with an 80 km/h or higher speed limit
- slow to 40km/h in a zone with a speed limit under 80 km/h
- AND on a multi-lane road, move into another lane to pass where safe to do so
So when do we slow down, move over?
Whenever you see one of these types of vehicle stopped at the roadside and displaying flashing lights:
- Police
- Fire
- Ambulance
- Park Rangers &/or Animal Control
- Conservation Officers
- Tow trucks
- Commercial Vehicle safety enforcement vehicles
- Highway maintenance
- Utilities
The legal change basically says slow down & move over for all vehicles with a flashing red, blue or yellow light. Which should be pretty easy for us all to remember.
Such common sense. we have these laws in MA. There have been so many accidents to emergency personnel by ding dongs driving too fast and too close to emergency situations. The highway is behind my house and I remember an accident a couple years ago. One of the State Troopers pulled over and yelled at every vehicle that he felt could have caused a ‘future’ potential problem with their driving. I watched for a while and would have yelled over a ‘nice job’ but that would have been an interruption as well.
Tony, how have you been?
They’ve had these laws here in BC for a while, but apparently it hasn’t been clear enough who you should slow down for. Me, I’d say anyone working on the highway – but apparently not everyone does. Couldn’t we all potentially cause future accidents? Oh well, probably made him feel better about it. I sure don’t envy the traffic cops.
All good here – new day job for me. In town finally… Better for the family and leaves me time to get back to this too!