42 — Friday. April 16, 1999 — North Shore News

ma

Officers hi

t streeis;

boneheads beware

ON April Ist short
sleeved shirts became
official attire for the

.. local RCMP, but ir
wasn’t until the 11th
that they were really in
vogue.

That sunny Sunday fast
boo SAW the COMUNEHCCMCHE
of the “Enhanced Trattic
Enforcement” program along
the eight kilometre corridor
between Capilano Road and
Mountain Highway in North
Vancouver.

“Twas! ¢ a kid just our
of school,” Comments
Sergeant Bob Beaudoin of
the North Vancouver RCMP
Traffic Section as sunshine
graced the first day of the
ICBC sponsored traffic satery
blitz,

To kick it off, enhanced
enforcement covered four
different location along

cas=- Marine Drive between
Capilano Road and the
2nd/3rd Street junction — a
stretch of road known as a
hot spot for red-light run-
ners. Laser-radar was also
employed along the corridor.

In total 36 violations were
written up, some involving
speed, a great many involy-
ing intersection infractions
and a few pertaining to
defective vehicles. The bone-
head-net also yielded one fel-
low driving with a suspended
licence. Under the “tough
new faw” initiated a couple
of years ago, his car was
impounded on the spot for
30 days. Cool.

Monday saw the “Flying
Squad” of motor vehicle
inspectors teaming up with

® the local traffic cops at a
pseudo-impromptu conmmer-
cial inspection site on East
Esplanade in North
Vancouver. Weather was
gloomy but the day was no
less productive.

According to motor vehi-
cle inspector Jay Northcott,
32 commercial vehicles were
inspected. Six different dri-
vers were ticketed for a vari-
ety of violations and four
vehicles were taken out of
service on the spot.
However, two of the con-
demned trucks were permit-
ted to have repairs done on

posite.

“It costs a lot of money
to have one of those (tractor-

31 years on the North Shore! |

Afather & son business where
you can talk to the German
Mechanics who work on your car.

FOR SALE
MERCEDES OF
THE WEEK

1973 450 :
lector car $14,000 0.6.0.
Call for more cars & info.

.1590 Pembertor: Ave.
North Vancouver 987-3133

signals

trailer rigs) towed,” states
Northcott, adding the
inspectors do not have a
problem with mechanics
being brought in to repair
the truck (when feasible).
The rig just doesn’t mave
until itis deemed sate.

For the most part, the day

especially when vou consider
the near-disaster which
almost occurred that same
day, and which cailed
Northeort away form his
“Flying Squad” duties.

Seems there was yet
another runaway truck over
there in Horseshoe Bay.

A Wesc Coast Amusement
tractor-trailer carrying
amusement rides to Sechelt
lost or never had 60% of its

brakes due to a disconnected
wir brake fine. Fortunately,
and by sheer coincidence. a
BC Ferrites’ toll booth had
just become vteant.

“Wed be having a totally
different conversations
there hadi bees cars ina
(erry) Tine up,” states
Northcott.

The semi wis able to
come tol stop using just the
tractor’s brakes. No charges
were laid and the vehicle was
repaired on the scene. Like
sunny days and short siceved
shirts, | sure enjoy a happy
ending. The Enhanced
Enforcement Program con-
tinues through Dee. 31,
1999,

Guess you'd better be

CARTER CHEVROLET-OLDSMOBILE 987-5231
REGENCY PONTIAC-BUICK-CADILLAC-GMC 985-6333

NEWS photo Terry Peters

BEGINNING this month, North Van RCMP and Motor Vehicle Inspectors are blitz-
ing the North Shore in search of red-light runners, speeders and poorly equipped
trucks. Last Monday alone, 32 commercial vehicles were inspected (above).

“We've got a
Spring offer that

_-—— you're sure to
warm up to.”