Important to remain calm around aggressive drivers

Surviving an unsafe pass

Photo: UbiCar Insurance

When sharing the road with aggressive drivers, it's important to remain calm.

Sharing the road with aggressive or unsafe drivers can be both upsetting and dangerous.

One common hazard is being involved in an unsafe pass, whether it's on a two-lane highway, during heavy traffic or in poor weather conditions. Staying calm and making smart, defensive choices in those situations can help you stay safe and avoid being part of a crash.

First, never engage with, or challenge, the unsafe driver. If someone is tailgating or trying to pass aggressively, resist the urge to speed up or block their path. That can escalate the situation and increase the risk for everyone involved. Instead, maintain a steady speed, signal early if you're changing lanes and allow them to pass safely when possible.

If the driver is passing in a corner, in poor visibility or against oncoming traffic, be prepared to take evasive action. Slow down slightly to give them more room and reduce the risk of a collision. Keep a close eye on your mirrors and blind spots, and give yourself extra space in case the other driver swerves back unexpectedly.

Avoid distractions. It is not the time to use your phone or adjusting the radio. Your full attention should be on the road and the erratic driver. If you're being followed by an aggressive driver after they make an unsafe pass, consider pulling into a public area or notify police.

Finally, take a moment to breathe. Unsafe drivers are frustrating, but keeping your cool helps you stay in control. Remember, your goal is to get to your destination safely, not to win a competition on the road.

Defensive driving, patience and awareness are your best tools. While you can’t control how others drive, you can control how you respond and that can make all the difference.

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

A guide to RV towing rules in B.C.

Towing an RV

Photo: Outdoorsy.com

There is a lot more to recreational vehicle towing than simply hooking up your trailer or loading your camper and making sure the rear lights work.

Before you get started, the three major concerns to understand include having the right driver's licence, knowing if your brakes are sufficient to get you stopped and how much the entire combination weighs.

A standard class 5 and 7 driver's licence allows you to drive a two-axle motor vehicle and tow a trailer with it, as long as the weight of the trailer is not more than 4,600 kilograms.

A house trailer endorsement (51) is required on your class 5 or 7 licence if the weight of the trailer is more than 4,600 kg and it is not equipped with air brakes.

Other combinations may require a commercial class of driver's licence.

Having sufficient braking power to stop your RV combination is critical and needs an article of its own to fully explain all of the requirements. At the most basic, brakes are required if:

• The trailer weighs 1,400 kg or less but more than 50% of the net weight of the tow vehicle.

• The trailer weighs more than 1,400 kg

Other considerations include whether you have surge or electric brakes, are using a breakaway device and have a separate means of applying the trailer brakes independent of the tow vehicle brakes.

There are other areas of RV towing that are poorly understood by non-commercial drivers—two areas of concern, licensed weight and actual weight.

When you get licence plates for your RV and the vehicle you will be towing it with, you need to know how much both will weigh when fully loaded. Discuss this with your Autoplan Agent and follow their guidance.

The actual weight and its distribution in the combination is critical to its safe operation. You must not exceed the designed total load, axle or tire loads. If you do, you risk being prevented from continuing by law enforcement if you are checked.

B.C.'s Commercial Vehicle Safety and Enforcement has created a guide—Gross Vehicle Weight Rating, Brake Requirements and Driver's Licence Types for Recreational Vehicles. It explains and provides examples to help you decide if you are ready to go or not.

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

Keep off painted traffic islands

Painted traffic islands

Photo: YouTube/Smart Drive Test

Question: Would you write an article about painted traffic islands?

As I pass an island with my left turn signal on, someone behind me will often drive across the island, attempting to pass me and turn at the same intersection. I have seen professional drivers do this as well.

Perhaps the reason that these drivers ignore painted traffic islands is the lines do nothing to physically prevent them from driving on it. I suspect they see it as just another area of open pavement that no one else is occupying at the time and they can use it to their advantage. A raised island may damage their vehicle so it is treated with more respect.

Chapter three of the ICBC manual Learn to Drive Smart presents a graphic of a painted traffic island and tells drivers that they must keep to the right and not drive on or over it.

Painted traffic islands are really a special case of a double solid line. The diagonals between the two parallel solid lines serve to indicate to the driver that they are related to each other and not to treat them as a single solid line.

In British Columbia a double solid line means that you must drive to the right of it only, except when entering or leaving the highway as long as other drivers are not unreasonably affected by the movement.

This is also a good illustration of the fact that a defensive driver needs to be aware of what is going on around them at all times. If this driver was not watching what was going on behind him on the traffic island there is the possibility that a collision would occur.

Just because the other driver isn't supposed to doesn't mean that they won’t.

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

When important information about a vehicle is not revealed to the buyer

Important omissions

Photo: Chung Chow

Question: When I purchased a truck, the seller did not notify me it had a rebuilt status and he did not write "R" (for rebuilt) in the appropriate section of the APV9T transfer paper.

He lied to me and did not disclose information that he was obligated to disclose.

Now I know the truck was rebuilt, so far it has been impossible to sell because I bought a rebuild and wasn't told about it.

I'm not interested in suing the seller. Is there anything I can do recoup the money that will be lost when I eventually sell it for far less thanI paid?

Other than the additional kilometres, the initial condition was relatively the same as it is now.

Answer: In my experience, few people take the time to fill out the APV9T completely, let alone complete a vehicle transfer correctly without coaching from their Autoplan agent.

In most cases, all goes well after the fact but your instance is not one of them.

Did you look carefully at the transfer paper and the registration and insurance documents when you were making the purchase? They specify if a vehicle was rebuilt or not.

In the bottom right of the APV250 form there is a vehicle status line that will say “rebuilt” if it was registered properly after rebuilding. ICBC says that portion of the form was supposed to be handed to you as part of the transfer.

(According to the Motor Vehicle Act):

False Statements

69 (1) A person commits an offence if the person does any of the following:

(a) makes a false statement in

(iv) a notice of transfer of a motor vehicle or trailer

To successfully prosecute under that section of the Motor Vehicle Act, it would have to be shown the person you bought the truck from wilfully made the false statement.

The difficulty there is the part on the transfer paper not filled in. That may be a fraud by omission rather than making false statement. Unfortunately, that is not something normally dealt with in traffic enforcement, so I don't know the answer. Consulting legal counsel would be appropriate.

Unfortunately, the only way I can see you getting any compensation for this is to deal with the seller via Small Claims B.C. or the Civil Resolution Tribunal.

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