Truck driver training focus of concern Roads to earning licence vary By Karen Lee Contributing Writer THE trucks they drive may be tough enough but the drivers behind the wheel couid stand more training. It is the job of North Shore-based motor vehicle inspector Jay Northcott to robe the twisted metal left hind by tuck accidents. He takes a department van houne every night in case he is called in, such as in August 1995, when a crash on the Upper Levels Highway claimed the lives of two peo- le. P Northcott has investigat- ed close to 300 truck acci- dents in 14 years. He believes dangerous tuck drivers are the product of poor driving schools. The certification process entails driving schools that conduct the rvad test for their own students, “Today, schools certify their own students and | think that’s wrong,” said Northcott. He believes a neu- tral party should conduct the road testing. Approximately 20 schools are registered with the Ministry of Transportation and Highways to certify their own students for a Class | truck licence. A student can choose to be road-tested through the motor vehicle office, but the wait is seven weeks. A driver must bring along his own truck and minimum 25-foot (7.6 m) wailer. Jatinder Ubhi, 29, was on his maiden voyage to the Horseshoe Bay ferry terminal on July 9, 1990, when he lost control of his truck. His lack of experience was a factor in the accident, accord- ing to his employer at the time, Malcolm Millership of A-] _ Paving. He had been working at A-1 Paving for wo months. His air brakes failed, he did not gear down properly on the steep hill feading to the ferry terminal, and his truck was overloaded with asphalt. Ubhi drove into a van, killing cwo passengers. Bajinder Singh — was behind the wheel in last year’s accident on the Upper Levels Highway. The brakes on his rig were faulty, leading to a six-vehicle collision. Singh and another man were killed in the accident. Both Ubhi and Singh were certified at Burnaby Professional Driving School. Paul Hans, the manager of Burnaby Professional Driving School, says the industry should no longer be trusted to licence its own students. “I would probably fee! more comfortable if it was just taken away from the dri- ving schools,” said Hans. He claims there are unethical operators and the public would prefer to see a neutral party conduct road tests. He said schools cannot be held accountable for negli- gent drivers, especially after a driver is on the soad for a few years. “I consider myself the lay- man’s driving school. | like to keep costs low. These people are working,” said Hans. He defends his instructors as being “second to none.” Even those who teach admit that driving school stan- dards are not rough enough. Byron Briton, manager at North Shore Driving Schoo!. says “People want to get it over with and not spend so much money. They don’r realize that they're really not learning the trade the way they should.” His company’s 20-hour course is thorough by indus- try standards. “A lot of peo- ple are giving less than thar, 12 hours in a lot of cases. They’re leading people to believe that they can actually learn in that length of ume,” he said. Briton thinks the competi- tion between schools is creat- ing an unhealthy training ground for truckers and that the problem will not go away. “It’s difficult to buck that trend entirely with but one company. If we had a little bit “ People want to get it over with and not spend so much money.” — Byron Briton, North Shore Driving School manager of government support we could upgrade the courses.” Briton has spent abour 30 years working with provincial government committees to upgrade courses. He eventually became frustrated by the staff changes and lack of support. “Fe given up on govern- ment a long time ago,” said Briton. Private schools will tailor programs so that anyone with a driver's licence can get bebind the wheel of a tractor- trailer in wo weeks. The provincia) govern- ment minimum requirements tora Class | licence are basic: six hours of theory, eight sours of practical driving, and a 20-hour aiz-brake course. Class 1 licences are renewed every five y a knowledge test i ducted aiter initial licensing. Medical esams are mandatory alter age 40. Meanwhile = Northcott, whe inspects trucks at weigh stations, sees Too many new drivers who can’t even per- form a brake inspection on their own rig. He pulled a trucker off the road at Horseshoe Bay ferry terminal this summer. “He didn’t understand thar even though the brakes were automatic, you still have to check them on a daily basis on those types of vehicles,” said Northcon. “He didn’t even know how to adjust those brakes. It was a brand new truck and four of the brakes from the trailer were out of adjustment.” Road rash THE driver of this pickup was not seriously injured after the truck flipped over on Thursday morning in the 300-biock of East Braemar. No other vehicles were involved in the mishap. NV ine By Anna Mario D'Angelo News Reporter A B.C. Council of Human Rights hearing concerning sexu- al harassment and discrimina- tion allegations against the owner of the Avalon Hotel con- tinued this week in Vancouver. Hotelier Ken Hutchinson was acquit- ted earlier this year of four charges of sex- ual assault. One of the complainants i.1 the sexual assault case had launched a ccunplaint to the B.C. Council of Human Rights in September 1993. Hutchirson was charged with the sexual assaults monchs later after a West Vancouver Police inves- tigation. The B.C. Council of Human Rights began in September and was adjourned to this week. The Human Rights com- plainant, now in her early 30s, worked at the hotel from March 1987 until she took a medical feave in July 1993. Her B.C. Council of Human Rights allegations against Hutchinson include thar: Whe kissed her on the lips in 1988 after she dropped mail off at his home; @ he frequendy made comments about her physical appearance and invited her Bomb scare closes theatre NORTH Vanccouver’s Centennial Theatre was evacuated on Dee. 13 after a bomb threat. An Iranian theatre group’s performance at the 2300 Lonsdale Ave. facility was stopped because of the bomb scare. The group’s production had politi- cal overtones. North Van Mounties and police service dog Chase, who is trained in locating ‘bombs, searched the building but found no suspicious packages. to socialize with him; @ he forced her to have sex with him in the fall of 1989 at his West Van home where she had taken mail; @ he suggest- ed in May 1991 that she consider hav- ing an abor- tion because her pregnancy would ruin her career; she claims that afterwards she was demoted from front desk manager to clerk, but received the same wage; B® he groped her in a back accounting office of the hotel in October 1991; 8 he said he wanted to have sex with her while the two were in his car mapping out a route for a charity fundraiser fun run in North Vancouver in July 1993. Hutchinson has denied all the allega- tions against him. The woman’s identity is banned from publication under a permanent court order issued by a judge relating to the KEN Hutchinson... acquitted of sex assault charges. Woman hit in crosswalk A 22-year-old North Vancouver woman received a concussion on Dec. 17 vehi- 3rd Strect at after she was hit by a cle on Easx St. Patrick’s Avenue in North Vancouver City’s Lower Lonsdale. According to a North Vancouver RCMP spokesman, the woman when she was struck by the westbound vehicle. tained a broken left leg and fractured ribs. was in a marked crosswalk The woman also sus- sexual assault charges. Monday’s B.C. Human Rights Council hearing proceedings included testimony from a Workers’ Compensa- tion Board (WCB) adjudicator who han- dled the woman’s claim for wage-loss benefits connected to the alleged inci- dents. The woman received WCB bene- fits from July 1993 to the present. The woman’s lawyer, Michael Blaxland, could not complete the presen- tation of his client’s side of the case on Monday because two “reluctant witness- es” were not present. But Hutchinson’s fawyer Larry Page said there had been ample time to subpoena the women to testify. Hearing chairman Doug Eastwood ruled that the women could testify later in the hearing. They are now scheduled to testify when the hearing resumes in January, well after the start of Hutchinson’s defence. On Tuesday Hutchinson’s lawyer began with testimony from Avalon assis- tant manager Mona Simpson. Simpson testified that the com- plainant was flirtatious with Hutchinson on more than one occasion throughout the time the complainant worked at the Avalon. Simpson denied she was told by the woman that Hutchinson made sexual overtures to her, index wm Bright Lights w Collins a Crossword w Mailbox m@ North Shore Alert w Seasons Greetings.. @ Talking Personais. According to the police, the theatre received a phone call shortly before 7 p.m. An anonymous caller said a bomb would go off at 7:30 p.m. Police arrested a North Van man, a Nanaimo woman and a Richmond man. They were later released. No charges were laid to press time. Call 985-1311 with information. — Anna Marie D’Angelo Police are still investi- gating the 6 p.m. incident. No charges were laid to press time Friday. — Anna Marie D’Angelo Worth Shore News, founded in 1969 as an inde- Pendent suburban newspapes and qualified umler ‘Schedule 111, Paragraph "U1 of the Excise Tas Act, is published cach Wednesday, Friday and Sunday by Nusth Shote Free Press Lid. ated distributed te every door on the North Shore. Canada Post Canadian Publications Mail Sales Product Agreement: Nu OUR7238. Mailing rates available on sequest.