鈥楲ife in the fast lane鈥� is not a phrase usually associated with laid-back sa国际传媒, but the boosting of some speed limits by the sa国际传媒 Liberal government gives the province the highest highway speed limit in the country.
We鈥檙e in favour of the higher speed limits, but the changes to limits and other regulations announced by Transportation Minister Todd Stone this week are not licence to ignore prudence and common sense.
The speed changes affect 35 sections of highway covering 1,300 kilometres. The speed limit will jump to 120 kilometres an hour from 110 on some divided multi-lane highways, including a 114-kilometre stretch of Highway 19 from Parksville to Campbell River.
Three sections of the Trans-sa国际传媒 Highway between Cowichan Bay and Nanaimo Airport will increase to 90 km/h from 80 km/h.
A 44-kilometre stretch of Highway 19 from Campbell River to Sayward will increase to 100 km/h from 90 km/h. A 35-kilometre stretch of Highway 19 from Port McNeill to Port Hardy will jump to 100 km/h from 80 km/h or 90 km/h.
The higher limits raise concerns about safety, and while it鈥檚 true speed kills, higher speed limits do not necessarily mean more highway deaths. Based on kilometres travelled, the death rate from crashes on Germany鈥檚 autobahns, parts of which have no speed limits for cars and motorcycles, is about a third of the death rate for urban traffic crashes and a fourth of that for rural roads.
That said, the faster a vehicle is going, the more severe the damage and injuries if there is a crash. However, the increases in the limits announced by Stone are not massive. And in most cases, the new limits are based on the speeds most drivers are already travelling.
In justifying the new limits, Stone cited the 85th-percentile concept, which is based on the theory that the large majority of drivers are prudent, want to avoid crashes and want to reach their destinations in the shortest possible time. It鈥檚 a crowd-sourcing, democratic approach that says most of us will do what鈥檚 right and safe.
Despite posted speed limits, drivers are also required by law to drive at a speed that is safe for conditions. A person driving along the Coquihalla at 120 km/h in a snowstorm can 鈥� and should 鈥� be ticketed, as should a driver doing the limit between Parksville and Campbell River during a heavy rain.
At the other end of the speed spectrum, the province plans to crack down on slower drivers who hog the left lane on four-lane roads, preventing others from passing. Many drivers are probably not aware that sa国际传媒鈥檚 regulations stipulate that vehicles moving at less than the normal speed of traffic must stay in the right lane, except to pass.
The stretches of highway with a limit of 120 km/h are now the fastest roads in sa国际传媒. The maximum speed limit in five provinces is 110.
The other jurisdictions set their top speed at 100, except for Prince Edward Island, which holds its drivers to 90 km/h.
Now that the province has set freeway speeds for some stretches of highway, it might consider more freeway-type amenities, such as overpasses to replace signalled intersections along the Pat Bay Highway and the Trans-sa国际传媒 Highway.
As motorists driving north out of Parksville step on the gas and watch the speedometer needle climb toward 120 km/h, drivers inching their way through the Colwood Crawl can only sigh with envy. Never mind 120 km/h 鈥� most would be happy to see the speed along that stretch of the Trans-sa国际传媒 boosted to 20 km/h.
