Vehicle on fire
On Aug. 25, a member of the BC Highway Patrol was on Highway 1 and noticed a vehicle being towed by an RV that was on fire, as the vehicles were northbound on the highway.
The officer conducted a traffic stop just by Coast Range Concrete (CRC) and the occupants exited the vehicle safely. CRC employees saw what was happening and immediately came over with a hose from their works yard. Kim Van Tine was also on the highway at the time and stopped to assist. With the help of the CRC staff and Mr. Van Tine, the fire was extinguished very quickly.
“We would like to thank the CRC staff and Mr. Van Tine for their assistance,” says Corp. Jeffrey Raffle, Ashcroft RCMP. “This incident happened during a record-breaking wildfire season and could have ended very differently without their timely intervention.”
Back to school safety
Every September brings us to the “back to school” period: dreaded by students, but loved by parents.
This period is one where we, as a community, must be more aware of our children as they are travelling to or from school. We also need to talk about safety with our children so we set them up for a successful school year. Here are some tips for arriving safely:
• When walking, wear bright colours and consider adding reflective strips/lights to clothing to make your young ones visible to traffic.
• Never walk and text – this takes your attention away from what is around you and may put you at risk.
• If you are driving your wee ones to school, ensure their car seats aren’t expired, and are adjusted and installed correctly (see the Highway Patrol Unit’s “2 Cents” below).
• Drivers, this is your reminder that the speed limit in school and playground zones is 30km/hour. The community (including the Ashcroft RCMP detachment) expects everyone to drive responsibly, especially around our children.
Highway Patrol Unit’s “2 cents”
In this section, our local Ashcroft Highway Patrol unit provides comments on trends they are seeing during their enforcement duties in regards to motorists complying with the BC Motor Vehicle Act (MVA)/Regulations (MVAR).
As kids are back in school it is the opportune time to discuss child restraints/seat belts. When using a car seat or booster seat, ensure that the seat meets the Canada Motor Vehicle Safety Standards. There is also an expiration date for every child seat. Ensure this date is still valid and not expired. Lastly, ensure that the there is a “National Safety Mark” to confirm that the seat adheres to Canadian safety standards.
• Children who are 20 pounds or less are required to be in a car seat and be rear-facing.
• Children who are 20-40 pounds can be front-facing, but are still required to be in a car seat.
• Children who are 40 pounds or more and up to either nine years old or 4’9” tall are required to use a booster seat.
• Once a child reaches the approximate age of 12 or is 4’10” tall, they can safely be seated in a normal vehicle seat, and should be seated in the back seat with the seat belt fastened properly. This consists of the lap portion of the belt tight across both hips. If the seat is also equipped with a shoulder strap, this should be positioned across the centre of the torso with the lap portion tight across the hips.
Typically, officers observe individuals with the shoulder portion of the belt placed under the corresponding arm in their armpit area. This is not the way a seat belt is designed to be worn and can cause serious injury to the occupant. As stated in section 220 of the MVA:
“A person in a motor vehicle being driven or operated on a highway must, if the motor vehicle has properly attached to it a seat belt assembly for the seating position occupied by that person, wear the complete seat belt assembly in a properly adjusted and securely fastened manner.”
ICBC has a great video on their website regarding car seats and how to secure them correctly; you can watch it at https://bit.ly/3tU5FuW. There is significant information on this website which should be reviewed so parents/caregivers are continually educated on proper child restraint information. Under section 220(6) of the MVA, permitting a child between the ages of six and 16 to ride in a vehicle without a seat belt could result in a $167 fine. If you fail to properly restrain a child (e.g. a car seat is not properly anchored to the vehicle), this could result in a $109 fine, as per section 36.03 of the MVAR.
Please wear your seat belt. If you don’t click it, you will get a ticket.
If you have information about any police files or crimes, contact the Ashcroft RCMP at (250) 453-2216. If you wish to remain anonymous, contact Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477).
editorial@accjournal.ca
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