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| Original News Release |
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| Original News Release |
A new regulation under the
Motor Vehicle Act will better protect the safety of police officers, fire and
ambulance personnel tow truck operators, special provincial constables,
conservation officers and park rangers who are working outside their emergency
vehicles on B.C. roads.
The act already requires
drivers to yield the right of way to approaching emergency vehicles that have
their lights and siren on. Drivers who fail to yield to a moving emergency
vehicle face a fine and three penalty points. The fine, including a 15 per cent
victim surcharge, is $84 if paid within 30 days or $109 if paid thereafter.
Beginning June 1, the act
will also require drivers to slow to prescribed maximum speeds when
approaching, from either direction, a stopped emergency vehicle that’s on or
beside an undivided highway and has its lights flashing. (If the highway is
divided – for example, by a concrete median – vehicles travelling in the
opposite direction are not required to slow.) In addition, drivers travelling
in a lane containing or adjacent to a stopped emergency vehicle must move into
another lane to pass, if it is safe to do so and a police officer has not
directed them to do otherwise. This will give emergency workers as much space
as possible.
The penalty for not slowing
to the designated speed, not moving over if it is safe to do so, or both, will
be a fine and three penalty points. The higher fine for the new infraction
reflects the greater risk of injury or death for emergency personnel who may be
working outside their vehicle.
This change was requested and
is strongly supported by many stakeholders, who were consulted over more than
two years. They include the Office of the Fire Commissioner and Fire Chiefs’
Association of B.C., BC Ambulance Service, BC Association of Chiefs of Police,
ICBC, BCAA, the Ministry of Transportation’s Commercial Vehicle Safety
Enforcement Branch and the Police Services Branch, Ministry of Public Safety
and Solicitor General.
To build driver awareness of
the new regulation, the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure has
designed a strategy to identify the best locations for “slow down, move over”
signs. Existing electronic signs that currently display road conditions may
also be used. Five other provinces have passed “slow down, move over” laws.
Most don’t specify a speed, but require drivers to slow and proceed with
caution.
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contact: |
Media Relations Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General 250 356-6961 |
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