The B.C. government has announced a suite of new penalties and regulations to crack down on commercial vehicle overpass strikes.
The move comes in the wake of what Transportation Minister Rob Fleming called an “inexplicable series of collisions” involving trucks and highway overpasses.
“In addition to the serious risk of injury to the driver and others around them, these crashes delay commuters and affect the movement of goods in our economy,” Fleming said.
“That’s why we are taking tougher action to prevent these crashes: tougher regulations, bigger fines, and robust enforcement. And we are requiring new technical requirements, including warning devices and speed limiter technology on every commercial truck in the province.”
The crackdown will involve changes to B.C.’s Motor Vehicle Act regulations and Commercial Transport Regulations.
They will include new offences addressing over-height vehicles and loads, and “more than quadruple” fines to make them the highest in Canada, Fleming said.
Companies involved in repeat crashes could see their entire fleet grounded, Fleming said.
“This includes outright cancellation of their carrier safety certificate which would effectively prevent the company from operating in B.C., and with that all the financial implications that would bring,” he said.
“Its a strong message to those very, very few carriers involved in these crashes: carelessness and complacency is going to cost you.”
Along with the penalties, the province is implementing new technical requirements for commercial vehicles.
By June, dump-style trucks will need to install in-cab warning devices to alert drivers if their box is raised while in motion, with new fines for non compliance.
All commercial vehicles trucks will also be required to install speed limiters preventing them from travelling faster than 105 km/h by April 5, with new fines for non-compliance.
BC Trucking Association president and CEO Dave Earle hailed the new regulations, which he said will create a “real, tangible and immediate consequence” for unacceptable behaviour.
“The ability to remove that fleet’s operating certificate is really critical,” he said.
“What that means is that fleet will not be able to operate in the province until such time as they can show they have their processes and procedures in place and together”
Earle also supported the new speed limiter regulations, which he said will have a demonstrable effect on road safety.
Earle said the industry has been focused on better training, including mandatory entry-level training for new drivers, and was working with the provincial and federal governments to strengthen the program.
The Lower Mainland has recorded several dozen truck vs. overpass crashes in recent years — an occurrence so common it inspired a parody social media account.
In one case, a driver struck a North Vancouver overpass in September and fled the scene. That crash snarled Highway 1 for eight hours, and resulted in the province suspending the company’s licence.
Another case involved a truck hitting the Highway 17A overpass over Highway 99 in Delta. That crash also disrupted traffic for hours and caused damage to the overpass that won’t be repaired until the new year.
In a March 2022 incident, a B.C. man was showered with “baseball-sized” chunks of concrete after truck passed him and struck the Number 3 Road Bridge on Highway 1.
The damage in some cases have left taxpayers and ICBC rate payers stuck with multi-million dollar repair bills.
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