ws 4 a AT INTERSECTIONS BETWEEN 45.1% INTERSECTIONS 40.9% AT “T" JUNCTIONS 5.9% Who’s to blame? The other guy isn’t always Where Casualty Accidents Happen in British Columbia OTHER LOCATIONS 6.1% ON BRIDGES 2.0% at fault for traffic accident AT THE current rate. B.C. motorists wil rack up clase te 15.000 intersection accidents thi. vear. In mMOsl cases Ws onte a patie of moments after ihe purmpers tangle thai two drivers | start rehearsing their version of ine ine cident and. of couse. ao} aimos: always the other gus’s faut. Constabie Rene Bobemier of Vancouver Police Denarimen: traffic divisio. has heard sonic dandy tales in his ur. years, of street-level expert: a education, in traffie engineeri help him apply the laws of 1 as well as those of the provin.. sort out the aftermath of an in- tersection crash. In deciding if charges should be faid, and agains: whom, Bohemier says a police officer must deter- mine the actions taken by the ‘tservient'’ and ‘‘dominant’’ motorist. The servient driver is the one who originally must vield in order to cross ancoming traffic. The dominant driver is the other motorist, usually on the through street, How much space or time must a serviemt driver yield? The sourts say enough so that oncoming trat- fie WH not hase to take suddet violent action to avoid a i A dominant dr charged if its prey that could see the servient driver move into his path and had a reasonable amount of time te stop. Some- times a motorist is delayed mid- way through a turn by a pedestri- an or other traffic. An oncoming driver a half block away can’t assume that the intersection will be clear by the time he arrives. Then there’s the left turner who clears two lanes of stopped traffic only to get nailed by someone heading through in the outside lane. Bohemier says past court decisions state that left turning Where's BCAA IS asking all motorists to slow down and show a little con- cern for other drivers in support of ICBC's Fools Rush In intersec- tion safety campaign which runs from Oct. 22 to Nov. 3. With over half of B.C.’s traffic crashes that cause death or inju- ries happening in intersections, BCAA wants motorists to do their part in the battle to reduce traffic casualties. “*We want drivers to take extra care in intersections, use their turn signals, and slow down before turning corners,’” says BCAA‘s Park Royal service centre manag- er, Nolan Cooney. “Tes really a matter of slowing (servient) divers must vield te oncoming tratfic mn each dane crossed independent of the other iar Fro diver neadine siraih’ through the iotersecoon is nor es. nected to vield Unless Ae Cun acti. aliv see rie serviont cenicle mak - img te turn. and then any an op can de reasonably expeciest 10 stor im OMe. in POST TEINS PW Hor Matter my court tie tae INANE Motors! was exceeding specG AMM er passing 2 raw stopped cars — the duty of drives. crossing Janes of trails i tape ceed at iy when the was is What abou: crashes at uncon trolled intersections? Yhe motor veliivic acer saves thar where two vehicies approach o: eMfer an intersecGion af appro mately the same ume. Ue driver to the right of the other has the “right of way.’ Where there is a yield sign, the driver facing that sign must yield the right af way to all other traffic. Bohemier maintains that) the critical factor in laying charges is time, not distance. He says most velicles can cross an intersection in) about ane to one aad a half seconds at norma? speeds. Ef two vehicles collide - even if a speeding driver lps ihe back ond of someone doing the limit -- it usually means that thes both arrived aio the imersection with a second ai each er approximately at the same time. It’s the guy on the left who will most likely ante-up the $75 fine. Of course, every accident is unique and many more situations are played out than our two ex- amples. Given that few of us drive with a judge and a lawyer along to give split-second legal opinions, it's ultimately easier for us to rehearse care before we hit an in- tersection :ather than our excuses after we hit another motorist. the fire? down, showing courtesy to others and giving up the ‘me first’ ap- proach to driving,’’ Cooney adds. With more than a_ hundred deaths and thousands of injuries each year in B.C.’s intersections, it’s time to slow down and take care. And Wf the human costs aren't high enough to make drivers take care, BCAA points out that the dollar costs add up to over $200 million paid out for ICBC intersection-crash claims each year — which comes from B.C. motorists” insurance premiums. So, as the ICBC ads say, ‘‘Slow down. What’s your hurry, B.C.?” ottest Deal, . This Week Friday, Octoner 19. 1996 - Pata Te LUO RY “BY ita: ® DIGITAL READY »* AUTO REVERSE * POWER TUNER © ETR. © 30 STATION MEMORY PRESETS ¢ C.D. OR DAT. 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