3 -— Wednesday, September 6, 1989 - North Shore News TRAFFIC FINES ESTIMATED TO BE UP BY 400 PER CENT Courth PROVINCIAL COURTHOUSES in North and West Van- couver are gearing up for an estimated 400 per cent increase in the number of traffic tickets they will be processing fol- lowing the recent reinstitution of fines for ail moving traffic violations in B.C. Doris St. Germain, the manager of court services for North and West Vancouver, estimated that traffic tickets handied by the North Vancouver provincial courthouse alone would almost quadruple from the current 800 to 3,000 per month starting in September. In West Vanicouver, traffic tick- ets processed could jump from 300 per month to over 1,000. Both courthouses are conse- quently hiring new staff: at North By TIMOTHY RENSHAW News Reporier Vancouver, which currently employs 26.5 Full Time Equivalent (FTE) staff, three employees will be «ddded; at West Vancouver, which has 4.8 FTE employees, one additional employee will be hired. In early August, Solicitor Ger- eral and North Van- couver-Capilano MLA Angus Ree announced that fines would be imposed immediately for all mov- uses brace f ing traffic violations in an attempt to help cut the social and financial costs resulting from unsafe driv- ing. As < result, fines now apply to an additional 85 traffic infractions and must therefore be processed . through provincial courthouses. According to provincial Statistics, there were 300,000 traf- fic offences last year that resulted in fines. At the same time there were more than 500,000 offences fcr which only penalty points were assessed. Provincial courthouses previous- ly processed only Traffic Informa- tion documents, which included the more serious traffic violations such as excessive speeding, and all traffic tickets that were challenged in court. of ‘fraffic Violation Reports, which documented moving violations to which only points were applicable, were, unless disputed in court, processed by police departments and forwarded directly to Victoria. With the new fine system, all traffic violations are processed as Traffic Information. Jim Kempling, assistant deputy minister with the Solicitor Gener- al’s office, said Thursday, ‘‘Vol- umes of tickets in the short term will rise rather considerably.”’ But he said approximate’y 100 new court services staff would be hired across the province to help handle the traffic ticket deluge. The province, Kempling said, will also establish a new computer system thai will allow traffic vio- lators to pay fines through local r ticket flood provincial Motor Vehicle Branch offices. He said the system should be operating by July I, 1990. Kempling added that the new fine system will make the task of processing tickets easier for police departments Lecause thi:y will now deal only with one xather than two types of traffic tickets. Under the new Motor Vehicle legislation, fines for such offences as speeding, failing to stop for a school bus and unsafe lane changes are now $75. Initially the Motor Vehicle Act amendment was scheduled to come into effect next year, but because of a technical error, the reinstate- ment of fines for moving vio- lations came into effect July 17. NEWS photos Cindy Goodman Deep Cove Daze delights MONDAY ’S DEEP Cove Daze was fun for the whole family as 21-month-old Clayton (above) found out. The tot played paramedic in 4 miniature ambulance at the community event. Left, five-year-old Abbey Stimpson smiles through the bars of her decorated bicycle during the bicycle parade. Other events included square dancing, pony rides, jet ski demonstrations and a dunk tank. Extended-hours clinic to open THE NORTH Shore’s first extended-hours medical clinic is scheduled to open this week in Lynn Valley. By TIMOTHY RENSHAW News Reporter Dr. Anthony Dunlop, principal physician for the Lynn Valley Medical Clinic, said it will provide area residents with supplemental health services to those already available. No appointments will be neces- sary at the clinic, and it will be open beyond regular office hours. Though extended-hour, or walk-in, clinics have flourished elsewhere in Canada, ihere are on- ly a handful in the Lower Mainland. : The Lynn Valley clinic will be open from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Mon- day to Friday and from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturdays, Sundays and holidays. It will have rooms for minor surgery, suturing injuries and set- ting casts and have access to a medical laboratory in the same Valley Centre building. Dunlop said the clinic will be equipped to provide care for acute medical needs and less severe inju- ries. And while it will not have the facility to handle major emergen- cies such as heart attacks, the clinic will provide initial resuscitative care and first aid for victims of such emergencies. The clinic, Dunlop said, is designed to fill the gap between thie medical care offered in a standard doctor’s office and that provided in a hospital’s emergency ward. “It is not intended to duplicate either,’ Dunlop said. ‘‘It will be a- supplementary service.’’ The clinic’s concept, according to Tom Yearwood, who helped set up the operation, reflects the ‘‘new lifestyles’’ of urban populations by providing more flexibility and longer hours for people needing medical attention when their regu- lar physician is not available or for people who do not have a regular doctor. In addition to Dunlop, the clinic will be staffed with Dr. Carole Hansen and one full-time and five part-time registered nurses. While it has been set up to pro- vide aree residents with an alter- native medical care outlet, the clinic will also provide its doctors with more regular hours than are traditionally available to physi- cians with general medical prac- tices. Dunlop, who has a fellowship in emergency medicine and has worked for the past 10 years in various hospital emergency wards, said the work ‘‘is extremely stressful. I wanted to use my skills in a Jess stressful environment.”” Though some doctors in the medical community have raised concerns about extended hour clinics duplicating medical services, Dunlop said duplication already occurs in regular practices when patients seek medical attention from several different doctors. For more information about the clinic cali 988-5389. Business .............. 31 Classified Ads..........38 Or. 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