Barriere mayor hopeful province will implement mandatory dash cams for commercial trucks

Photo: Twitter/KamScan

A fatal four-vehicle collision on the Yellowhead Highway near McLure in November 2021. Ministry representatives spoke with TNRD directors on Friday about highway safety in the wake of two fatal crashes on Highway 5 in February 2022.

Barriere Mayor Ward Stamer says he is optimistic the provincial government will implement mandatory dashboard cameras on commercial vehicles following talks with B.C.’s transportation minister.

Last year, Stamer and Clearwater Mayor Merlin Blackwell championed a resolution, approved at the Union of B.C. Municipalities conference, asking the province to review the feasibility of mandating all commercial semi-trucks registered in B.C. to have dash cams installed and in operation while driving on provincial roads. The rationale of the resolution is that dash cams can encourage commercial truck driver accountability in adhering to safe driving practices.

The province recently issued a response to the resolution, stating it's reviewing feasibility of this initiative and consultation with stakeholders will occur likely in the first half of 2024.

“In the review is a jurisdictional scan, privacy review, and an understanding of parameters that may be required to form a mandate, such as minimum camera operating requirements like quality, field of view, storage requirements and methods for production of data to law enforcement,” the province wrote in its responses to UBCM resolutions.

Meanwhile the provincial government announced Thursday it intends to construct a $2.2-million CVSE inspection pullout 12 kilometres south of Barriere for southbound travel, and will launch a new average-speed data-collection camera system for research purposes between Kamloops and Avola.

Stamer said he met with Transportation Minister Rob Fleming last week abut the initiatives.

“I asked the minister where he was on the file and he said ‘Well, they're still working on it, there seems to be an acceptance, maybe even across all Canada, for mandatory dash cams,’” Stamer told Castanet Kamloops.

Stamer has publicly called for mandatory dash cams since last February, days after a deadly crash along Highway 5.

As for the government’s speed collection cameras, Stamer said it will help determine traffic flows and areas of traffic congestion. The government said the cameras, to be installed this spring, will be used for data collection only and not law enforcement.

Mayor not convinced speed limiters will suffice

Next month the province is set to roll out new legislation requiring speed limiters to be installed in heavy commercial vehicles effective April 5.

Stamer said the speed limiters will keep commercial trucks from being able to go above 105 km/h even on the Coquihalla Highway where the speed limit is 120 km/h.

The Barriere mayor said the province is looking forward to the speed limiters as a way of slowing down the trucks, but he is not entirely convinced.

“In some places, even in Barriere, our highways [speed limit is] 100. They're still going to be able to go 105 [km/h] and they still might be driving too fast for conditions,” Stamer said.

Progress incremental on Highway 5 North improvement

Asked if he feels the province is making enough progress on improvements to Highway 5 North, Stamer said he feels it has been “incremental.”

He added that funding for the highway has been lagging behind other routes such as Highway 1 over the years, and noted Highway 5 didn’t have funds included in the recently passed B.C. budget, and has now been given just $2.2 million.

“We need just as much investments in our infrastructure on Highway 5,” Stamer said. “We’ve got very short, narrow corners, we’ve got cliffs that have to be removed.”

He said there are still multiple fixes that need to be addressed along Highway 5.

Meanwhile, the BC United Party has also pledged to build a CVSE inspection station — south of Clearwater — if elected in the Oct. 19 provincial election.

Stamer said he prefers the governing NDP’s location because most area CVSE inspectors live in Kamloops.

“It's going to be much easier for them to come up to McClure, come up to Lewis Creek, and make you know those inspections on a daily, weekly basis than having it in Clearwater,” Stamer said.