East Kootenay motorists urged to use caution as fall weather arrives

With darker, wetter fall conditions reducing visibility and stopping time, BC Highway Patrol is urging drivers to slow down—even below the posted speed limit when conditions demand it.

The warning comes as the BC Association of Chiefs of Police launches its October Drive Relative to Conditions campaign, highlighting motorists’ responsibility to protect passengers, pedestrians and other vulnerable road users.

“Speed limits are created for ideal conditions, and that’s not what we’re seeing now,” says Superintendent Lori Orstad with BC Highway Patrol.

“Wet roads and darkness give drivers less time to react and make it harder to stop. Give yourself extra time on your commute.”

Motorists will see extra enforcement on the roads from BC Highway Patrol to ensure that drivers are at the speed limit or slower. Under the BC Motor Vehicle Act (MVA), there is an offence specifically aimed at driving too quickly (even under the speed limit) in bad weather and darkness:

• Speed relative to conditions, section 144(1)(c), with a fine of $196.

Motorists are also reminded that pedestrians are particularly vulnerable in fall weather.

“Pedestrians can help themselves by choosing bright, reflective clothing, obeying traffic lights, and making sure they have their eyes up and their phones away when they are crossing the street,” says Superintendent Orstad.

“It may be the driver’s fault if you are hit in a crosswalk, but that’s no consolation if you’re badly hurt or killed.”

All road users are reminded that the BC MVA defines a “crosswalk” as:

1. A portion of the roadway at an intersection or elsewhere distinctly indicated for pedestrian crossing by signs or by lines or other markings on the surface, or
2. The portion of a highway at an intersection that is included within the connection of the lateral lines of the sidewalks on the opposite sides of the highway, or within the extension of the lateral lines of the sidewalk on one side of the highway, measured from the curbs, or in the absence of curbs, from the edges of the roadway.

I simpler terms, a crosswalk extends from any sidewalk at an intersection to the adjoining sidewalk on the other side of that intersection.

“The goal of the Drive Relative to Conditions month is to make our roads safer for everyone,” says Superintendent Orstad.

“People who choose to drive unsafely will get an expensive warning about the consequences of their actions.”