Be careful when helping pull a vehicle out of a ditch

Pulling vehicle from ditch

Photo: Drivesmartbc.ca

As the rescue driver in this situation, you don't have any exemption from the rules of the road.

Question: I have seen several cases of helpful drivers, pulling cars out of the ditch with ropes and chains. Often that obstructs other vehicle, sometimes in both directions. Last night, in the dark, several vehicles had close calls with “helpers” on the road. I always understood it was illegal to do this without proper safety gear and maybe certification or license to do rescues?

Answer: There is nothing in the Motor Vehicle Act that specifically stops a good samaritan from pulling a stuck vehicle out of a ditch. It is how they chose to do it that can cause a problem and those “close calls” you refer to would be the issue.

If you watch the television programs, Highway Thru Hell or Heavy Rescue: 401, you see all the safety precautions that are taken before crews start to remove a vehicle. Despite that, there are still drivers who don't slow down and even collide with tow trucks. Flaggers, barricades and flashing lights are sometimes not enough to keep everyone safe.

With a bit of planning and consideration you might be able to give another driver a quick tug back onto the road without causing trouble but anything more than that is likely best left to the professionals.

As the rescue driver in this situation, you don't have any exemption from the rules of the road. Add your duty to drive with reasonable consideration for others and not to drive without due care and attention and you can see that opportunities to help are limited.

I asked ICBC about this situation and whether helping would see a denial of insurance coverage if a crash occurred while a driver was attempting to pull another vehicle out of the ditch.

"That would depend on the situation" was the response I received, and ICBC would not discuss it further. The risk is yours.

Unless it is a matter of life and death, you should carefully consider the potential of your actions before you try to pull someone else out of the ditch.

This article is written by or on behalf of an outsourced columnist and does not necessarily reflect the views of Castanet.

Repetition of good driving habits makes them automatic

'Practice makes permanent'

Photo: Contributed

Learn the correct actions, practice them over and over and eventually you will do them automatically. That also applies to driving.

My neighbour raised the subject of driving a couple of days ago in a conversation at the community mailboxes.

He said that he often encounters drivers straying out of their lanes in our area, sometimes to the point where they were completely on the wrong side of the road.

"Practice makes permanent,” he said, “That was something my instructor told me when I was learning to ride a motorcycle."

My thoughts, as he left, immediately went to the training I received during my police service. We were taught over and over again how to use our firearms. We practised with them and if necessary we were corrected by our instructors until using them was second nature and did not require conscious thought.

The idea was that when faced with a sudden situation where we had to shoot, we would do it quickly and correctly. The repetitive practice of the proper actions would be ingrained in our actions permanently.

How does that apply to driving? It's just like any other task. Learn the correct actions, practice them over and over and eventually you will do them automatically.

Staying in your own lane is be part of that and so is scanning at intersections, following speed limits and giving a proper signal to name a few of the common deficiencies in some drivers.

Bad practices can become permanent for the same reasons, if you let them. Habits become difficult to correct once they are set, so don't let them become your default setting.

They can also be difficult to identify simply because you have been doing them for a long time and have been fortunate enough that they have not caused a problem for you…yet.

This article is written by or on behalf of an outsourced columnist and does not necessarily reflect the views of Castanet.

Police officers and traffic ticket quotas

Traffic ticket quota

Photo: Kelowna RCMP

Tim Schewe says during his long career as a police officer he was only subject to meeting a traffic ticket quota twice.

“Got your quota yet?”

It was a jab I heard often (as police officer) at the roadside. Some days I really wanted to respond, saying something like: "Yes, thank you. This ticket means I get a new toaster!"

Somehow, I don't think the drivers would have seen any humour in it.

Seriously though, I was only subject to a (ticket) quota twice in 20 years of traffic policing. Near the beginning of my service, I was limited to no more than 30 percent of my total charges being speeding tickets and at the end, I was required to complete at least six impaired driving investigations per year. Sadly, it was harder to limit the speeding tickets than it was to find impaired drivers.

This topic surfaced again a couple of weeks ago when I heard from someone who was not happy to learn police officers had to have at least 10 impaired driving charges (initiated) in the calendar year to become a member of Alexa's Team.

This person was stopped for speeding but was surprised to have the officer first ask if he had been drinking. He left with what he felt was an undeserved speeding ticket used as an excuse to find impaired drivers. He felt it was a conflict to be a public servant and a member of any group requiring enforcement minimums to join.

I suspect if the person had not been speeding, he would not have been stopped in the first place.

What's wrong with asking any driver if they have consumed liquor? I didn't ask. I just stuck my head up to the open window and took a good sniff. If I smelled liquor, I asked to see if the driver would lie about it or not. That was always a good indication they were worried about their level of impairment, as most who had a glass of wine or beer at dinner would tell you about it.

Following what I considered to be good management practices, my supervisors had to pay attention to numbers. All things being equal, if I gave out 10 tickets during a shift while my co-workers gave out 20, someone wasn't doing their job.

What would you do with an employee you were paying who wasn't producing a reasonable output?

This article is written by or on behalf of an outsourced columnist and does not necessarily reflect the views of Castanet.

What drivers want to see, and do, in the coming year

Driving resolutions for 2026

Photo: Pixabay

Two-thirds of respondents to and Angus Reid poll conducted for ICBC said that they were interested in setting a driving goal for themselves in the year ahead

B.C. drivers were polled by Angus Reid on behalf of ICBC to find out what their new year driving resolutions would be for 2026.

Two-thirds of respondents said that they were interested in setting a driving goal for themselves in the year ahead and 42% felt showing more patience behind the wheel should be their choice for the year ahead.

Seventy-six per cent of drivers thought our roads would be much safer if everyone made driving resolutions. Their top suggestion was to stay focused on driving and eliminate distractions by not using electronic devices.

The second most popular choice for driving resolutions was stress reduction and mental health. Relieving driving stress is something that we can do by making positive personal choices. What you choose to believe about the actions of the drivers around you has a big influence on the stress you experience while driving.

Other popular driving resolutions include combining errands to save gas and time (36%), improving fuel efficiency through better driving habits like smoother braking and acceleration (28%), leaving earlier to be less rushed (35%).

Only about 20% of drivers saw any need to resolve to improve their skills or behaviours. Nineteen per cent would reduce speeding, gain parallel parking or backing-up skills and 18% would avoid distracted driving.

Setting a positive example for family, children or friends came in slightly higher at 28%.

On the other hand, 74% of the drivers polled thought everyone else on the road would benefit from making a driving resolution. Are you surprised at that finding?

Walking and riding a bicycle (25%) or taking public transit more often (13%) instead of driving were also mentioned in the survey.

This article is written by or on behalf of an outsourced columnist and does not necessarily reflect the views of Castanet.