If I could give all of you one gift this Christmas it would be a year’s worth of safe driving. For those of us here in British Columbia that would mean more than one driver a day would not die, 81 people would not be injured and 69 property damage collisions would not occur. Imagine that.
For those of you who think that they have not been affected by a collision in the past year, consider about 80 percent of what you paid to ICBC to insure your vehicle. This is the amount in your premium that ICBC used to pay for death, injury and damage. Wouldn’t an 80 percent reduction in vehicle insurance be a nice gift also?
If I could wish for one gift in return it would be that everyone take a moment and consider that they are not the only driver on the highway. Grant courtesy to other drivers, even when they don’t deserve it. If we were as courteous to other drivers as we are when face to face, I dare say that many of the situations that we find ourselves in while driving would not occur.
Thank you to all that publish and read this column and take the time to respond to it with comments both positive and negative. You provide the ideas and incentive that keeps me writing and learning. Please have a happy and safe holiday season.
Back on the 25th of July I wrote about the rash of motorcycle collisions on Vancouver Island. Most were attributed to driver error and I wrote that the Graduated Licencing Program gave new drivers plenty of time to develop their skills before moving on to the next stage. Since then many riders have taken the time to point out to me that this is not the case when the rider already has a BC driver’s licence for a vehicle other than a motorcycle.
“I was a learner and had my full priviledge driver’s licence in 32 days” wrote one man. He said that he was disgusted at how easy it was to obtain the motorcycle licence and that he did not have to display a new driver sign at any time during those 32 days. He also suggested it would be interesting to know how many of these fatalities happened to riders who went through the GLP and how many went the same route he had.
I returned to the ICBC web site and read the section on obtaining a motorcycle driver’s licence when you already had another class of BC licence. It does state that you must remain a class 6 learner for at least 30 days, operate under the direct supervision of an adult holder of a class 6 licence, travel no faster than 60 km/h, carry no passengers and operate during daylight hours only. There is no need to display a new driver sign.
After the 14 days have passed a new rider may take a motorcycle skills test generally conducted in a paved lot at low speed. The allows the examiner to determine if the rider has the necessary balance and steering skills. Once 30 days have passed and the rider has successfully completed the skills test, the final one hour road test can be taken and if successful the rider would then hold a full privilege class 6 licence.
The writer was clear that 30 days was far too short a period and suggested that BC should consider the example set by England requirig that a rider develop skills on motorcycles with small engine displacements before moving up to larger more powerful machines.
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