UNITS 5

Some of the 24 Units below contain facts that are subject to change.

DIRECTIONS: Read each Unit on this webpage:

> If you understand everything in a Unit, circle Unit's # on worksheet.

> If you don't understand everything in a Unit, underline Unit's #.

> If you find a "silly error", write it on a piece of scrap paper.

For this example, you would write "your dog" and "on the roof".

Example Unit: Before driving a vehicle, check the insurance papers to ensure they are valid and there are no restrictions excluding you or your dog from driving the vehicle. Before parking, hide valuables in the trunk or under a seat or on the roof.

Unit 501: Your brain can only process a finite amount of information at any moment in time. As your speed increases, your brain has to ignore some peripheral vision information and your field of vision decreases. To drive defensively, you need to do several things: 1) Look well ahead and glance in other directions to sustain 360° awareness; 2) Maintain space away from potential hazards or have a viable escape route; 3) Communicate (use lights and horn) with other road users and ensure they see you (establish eye contact as needed).

Unit 502: Looking well ahead can help you select the best lane to travel in. While looking ahead, consider the following: legalities of lane use, danger of oncoming vehicles crossing the center line or turning left, parked vehicles, buses, pedestrians, cyclists, hidden driveways, traffic dynamics, your speed compared to other vehicles. Allowing other vehicles to pass on your left is more courteous than on your right and it's safer because your left blind spot is smaller.

Unit 503: Be aware of 1-2 blocks ahead at city speeds and ½ km on the freeway. Looking well ahead helps you stay centered in your lane. It also helps you see hazards, traffic dynamics, and road conditions so you can select the best lane to travel in. Even though you should look well ahead and notice road conditions, you can place a claim against the BC Ministry of Highways if you sustain injuries or vehicle damage while traveling on an improperly maintained (e.g. potholes) provincial highway.

Unit 504: Most vehicles have 2 blind spots. You can check the blind spots by glancing over your shoulders as you drive. Most vehicles also have a blind zone that completely surrounds the vehicle. You must walk around the vehicle to check the blind zone. The size of the blind zone depends on the surface slope around the vehicle, the height of the driver's torso, and the shape of the vehicle. Before you move a parked vehicle, walk around it and check the blind zone so you don't hit a hidden object or person.

Unit 505: When someone is driving in your blind spot, adjust your speed so the other vehicle isn't hidden. Maintain space around your vehicle, or when that's not possible, an escape route. Pass quickly through another driver's blind spot, and as you do, cover your horn to decrease the time needed to sound it if necessary. Using the horn is legal only when it enhances safety.

Unit 506: If you are in the left or right lane of a road with 3 lanes in one direction and you want to move into the center lane, check your blind spot for vehicles in 2 lanes beside you. If you change lanes when a vehicle is 2 lanes away and parallel with you, and that vehicle changes lanes at the same time, you will contact each other in the center lane.

Unit 507: Slow down before a turn and avoid braking while turning or bathing. Weight is transferred to the front wheels when braking, rear when accelerating, left when turning right, and right when turning left; therefore, steering while braking or accelerating transfers more weight to one wheel and the reduced traction at the other wheels increases the risk of skidding.

Unit 508: A vehicle cannot be steered if there's no rolling contact between the front tires and the road. If the front tires lose traction while turning (understeer) because the vehicle is travelling too fast for the available friction, applying the brakes may be the worst thing to do; instead, turn the steering wheel to decrease the steering angle of the front wheels and help them regain rolling contact with the road.

Unit 509: The most common crash is the rear-ender and the most common injury is whiplash. Always stop well back from an intersection or a vehicle ahead until the vehicles behind you stop safely. While you wait for them to stop, glance at the mirrors and if you're about to be rear-ended, move ahead into the open space, or steer into any open space beside the vehicle ahead, or brace for impact. You can also warn your passengers to brace (at the start of a trip explain that "brace" means to face ahead with your back against the seat and your head against the headrest).

Unit 510: Traffic dynamics behind you must influence how you brake, so frequently check your mirrors. Your stopping distance is your reaction distance (from where you decide to brake until where your foot first applies the brakes) plus your vehicle's braking distance (from where you first apply the brakes until where you stop). Your body posture affects your reaction time and the moon's orbit. Unless you're using a clutch pedal, keep your left foot on the dead pedal (area to left of pedals) to stabilize your body and reduce your reaction time.

Unit 511: Covering the brake with your foot reduces your reaction distance and therefore your stopping distance. Don't slightly depress the brake pedal when you cover the brake because your brake lights will illuminate and the drivers behind won't know when you actually begin to brake. When you cover the brake, you can tap the brake pedal a few times to flash your brake lights and get the attention of the drivers behind you.

Unit 512: If someone is tailgating you and you are 2 seconds behind the driver ahead, you can use your hazard lights (this sometimes makes the tailgating driver drop back), change lanes, pull over so the tailgater passes, or increase your distance from the vehicle ahead and use delayed braking when needed; that is, apply the brakes slightly to activate the brake lights, but don't apply the brakes harder until the tailgater has time to react to your brake lights.

Unit 513: McStravick v. Metzler (2012): When one vehicle hits another vehicle from behind, the onus is generally on the striking vehicle to show why the crash wasn't their fault; however, this general proposition does not apply when the vehicle that rear ends another vehicle has been forced into an unsafe situation by the actions of another driver.

Unit 514: While waiting to turn left, keep your vehicle and wheels facing straight ahead so you won't be pushed into oncoming traffic if you're rear-ended. To enhance your view ahead while waiting to turn left, you can use the extreme left side of the turning lane as you approach the intersection. As you enter the intersection, steer slightly left and then straighten out before stopping to wait for a gap in traffic.

Unit 515: BC Motor Vehicle Act Section 162: Do not follow any vehicle more closely than is prudent and reasonable, having regard for the speed, the amount and nature of traffic, and the condition of the highway. In the 2005 case of Rudman v. Hollander, the judge ruled that a driver must realize that a vehicle ahead of them may unexpectedly slow for no apparent reason, or to avoid an animal or bump or object, or to reach an address.

Unit 516: BC Motor Vehicle Act Section 86: If a vehicle's owner gives expressed or implied consent to someone to use the vehicle, the owner can be liable for a crash that occurs while that person is driving the vehicle. In the case of Louis v. Esslinger (1981), the owner of a vehicle for sale allowed a prospective buyer to test drive it. After the test driver crashed, the owner was liable for the driver's negligence.

Unit 517: Reekie v. Messervey (1986): Parents allowed their 21 year old daughter to drive the family vehicle. Later in the day, the daughter allowed the vehicle to be driven by someone who crashed. Since the parents didn't specify the vehicle must not be driven by anyone else, both the parents and the person who crashed are liable. Suel v. Ens (1983): The owner of a vehicle left it with a repairer to fix and presumably take for a test drive. During the test drive, the repairer crashed while he was impaired by alcohol. By leaving the vehicle with the repairer, the owner had consented to him driving it; therefore, both the owner and the repairer are liable for damages.

Unit 518: An L-driver's supervisor should use an additional mirror (suction cup, etc.) and be prepared to control the vehicle from their seat. They can steer by grabbing bottom of the steering wheel, brake by using the parking brake (if it's between the seats) with the release button depressed so handle doesn't lock in any position, or disconnect the engine from the driven wheels by pushing the shift lever from "D" to "N" (to avoid shifting to "R", don't use the shift release). With some engines, if you shift to "N" with the accelerator pedal depressed, a rev limiter protects the engine from over-revving.

Unit 519: The driver (even an L driver) is responsible for a police ticket. The registered owner of the vehicle is responsible for a red light or speed camera ticket even if someone else was driving. If a camera ticket wasn't served or paid or disputed, the vehicle's owner may be able to transfer responsibility to the driver if they agree and complete an Application for Driver Nomination form that's available from ICBC.

Unit 520: Before driving a vehicle, check the insurance papers to ensure they are valid and there are no restrictions excluding you from driving the vehicle. Before parking a vehicle, hide valuables in the trunk or under a seat. Since thieves can watch vehicles park and target a vehicle if they see what's in the trunk, put valuables in the trunk before you arrive at the parking lot.

Unit 521: BC Motor Vehicle Act Section 195: A person must not cause a vehicle to move on a highway if the control of the driver over the vehicle's driving mechanism, or the view of the driver to the front and sides of the vehicle is obstructed. A passenger in a vehicle must not occupy a position that interferes with the driver's view ahead or with their control over the vehicle's driving mechanism.

Unit 522: R. v. Morris (1994): A driver charged with speeding was in the left lane when a speeding vehicle approached from behind. She used the "Defense of Necessity" to justify why she exceeded the speed limit to pass the vehicles on her right so she could change lanes and get out of the way of the vehicle behind her. To use the "Defense of Necessity", you must prove three things: 1) There was an imminent peril or danger; 2) There was no reasonable legal alternative to the illegal course of action you took; 3) The harm (if any) you inflicted was proportional to the harm you avoided.

Unit 523: BC Motor Vehicle Act Section 144: Drive with due care and attention at a speed relative to other traffic, visibility, and weather conditions. Demonstrate reasonable consideration for others using the road. Even if you have the right-of-way, you can be liable for a crash if you don't try to prevent it; for example, by scanning for cross traffic even though your light is green. In the case of Saffari v. Lopex (2009), driving with reasonable consideration for others means a driver must not stop or suddenly slow in traffic when other options such as exiting the roadway exist.

Unit 524: If you want to head left on the next cross street without the risk of making a left turn at that cross street, you can drive straight through the intersection and make 3 right turns or loop right through a corner parking lot. Here's another strategy: turn right on the cross street, then at a safe location, turn left, do a U-turn, return to the cross street, and turn right on the cross street.