Reporting an unsafe driver in Canada/BC

Rikushix

I'll keep it short and sweet. On the way home from work today I passed a guy in an old Honda Accord who was staring down at his phone and texting, no hands on the wheel, while driving in rush hour over the Alex Fraser bridge. Not only is this illegal in BC but it's also a little aggravating for other drivers such as me.

I'm not one of those ultra-vigilant citizens who reports every observed transgression to the authorities, but I'm curious to know if there is a system in place, whether regional, provincial, or federal, for reporting drivers who are clearly breaking laws (especially laws that are designed to ensure driver safety). Obviously I know that the police wouldn't take this information and immediately give him a visit - he has to get caught to get in trouble. But is it possible that the police may take down citizen reports for reference if someone ever gets busted for something down the road? (pun). I have the guy's plates and description and it would be nice to contribute to these kinds of people changing their bad habits.

Esh

I Googled for "british columbia reporting unsafe drivers" and got this link.

Skeith

Try calling a non-emergency police line with what you've got and see what they can do. I've done it for people going 40 over the speed limit once or twice.

Rikushix

Damn....thanks Esh, not sure why I just didn't peruse the ICBC site

Driving while using a phone has been such a hot topic in BC that I was sure if I googled "cellphones" or "texting" along side unsafe driving I'd find what I was looking for. Guess not.

I might feel a little silly calling the non-emergency line to report someone texting while driving but that's probably the best route in the grand scheme of things.

Thanks guys.

Rikushix

Oh and I should point out, this was heavy traffic going about 50 to 60 miles an hour for you Americans - if it was stop and go I wouldn't have cared. But if you're pushing eighty km/h and fiddling with your cell phone I'm going to get pissed.

Varinn

I called in a drunk driver last week that almost clipped me going over the Port Mann bridge at about 2am, I just phoned up 911 and said I was reporting a wreckless/drunk driver. They asked for location, direction, model, plates, etc and then they just position a cruiser to try and intercept.

The other method is to just honk at them and give them the "are you fuckin' retarded?" look. When that doesn't work, a simple brake check usually does the trick.

MechMantis

Varinn wrote: »

I called in a drunk driver last week that almost clipped me going over the Port Mann bridge at about 2am, I just phoned up 911 and said I was reporting a wreckless/drunk driver. They asked for location, direction, model, plates, etc and then they just position a cruiser to try and intercept.

The other method is to just honk at them and give them the "are you fuckin' retarded?" look. When that doesn't work, a simple brake check usually does the trick.

For a less retarded version of that: a friend's grandfather placed two switches on his dash, and wired them to the electrical system.

One switch would activate the brake lights.

The other would activate the reverse lights.

Apparently if the first didn't work, the second invariably did.

This is of course anecdotal, but if you think someone's not paying attention, you don't hit the brakes when you're in front of them.

Hevach

MechMantis wrote: »

Varinn wrote: »

I called in a drunk driver last week that almost clipped me going over the Port Mann bridge at about 2am, I just phoned up 911 and said I was reporting a wreckless/drunk driver. They asked for location, direction, model, plates, etc and then they just position a cruiser to try and intercept.

The other method is to just honk at them and give them the "are you fuckin' retarded?" look. When that doesn't work, a simple brake check usually does the trick.

For a less retarded version of that: a friend's grandfather placed two switches on his dash, and wired them to the electrical system.

One switch would activate the brake lights.

The other would activate the reverse lights.

Apparently if the first didn't work, the second invariably did.

This is of course anecdotal, but if you think someone's not paying attention, you don't hit the brakes when you're in front of them.

Don't need to wire in new switches unless not all cars work like the ones I've driven. Just flip your parking lights on and off a couple times and failing that turn them on for a second. From behind it looks enough like you're tapping your brakes that most people will react before they figure out you're not.