A woman called the paper this week to complain about the “autobahn” in Pender Harbour. After living there only a month and a half, she had called 911 three times to report vehicles travelling at high speeds, threateningly tailgating her as she tried to stay within the posted speed limit. The caller said she had become afraid to drive to Sechelt and was ready to “go Rambo” on one of these lawless drivers.
Such drastic action hopefully won’t be necessary after the B.C. government on Wednesday announced severe penalties for repeat high-risk drivers. Starting Dec. 1, driving prohibitions of up to 36 months will replace the existing 15-day suspensions for street racing and stunt driving. That will be on top of any fines or other penalties, and police will still have the power to immediately impound a vehicle for a minimum of seven days when the driver is caught.
Street racing is defined as “when a driver attempts to out-distance, or arrive at a destination before another motor vehicle, or attempts to prevent one or more other motor vehicles from passing.”
Stunt driving “involves driving actions such as lifting a motor vehicle’s tires from the road, intentionally losing traction, spinning, driving into oncoming traffic, preventing other motor vehicles from passing, or driving too close to other vehicles.”
The new prohibitions can also apply to offences such as excessive speeding and driving without due care and attention – in fact, “any high-risk driving behaviours that present an immediate risk to public safety.”
RoadSafetyBC will tailor the length of each suspension to the offender, based on incident details provided by police and driving history. Most prohibitions will be set at between three and 36 months. Drivers will be able to request an adjudication process.
Announcing the measures, Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General Mike Farnworth said existing penalties have not been enough to deter the worst offenders. “The drivers posing the greatest risk to people’s lives are often caught repeatedly, and that tells us they aren’t taking the consequences seriously,” he said.
Speeding and stunt driving have been policing priorities for years on the Sunshine Coast, but the new law will certainly give more teeth to enforcement. We expect the vast majority of drivers will applaud the move.
