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	<title>SENSE BC</title>
	<link>http://www.sense.bc.ca</link>
	<description>Safety by Education Not Speed Enforcement</description>
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		<title>Welcome to the new SENSE website</title>
		<description><![CDATA[&#8230; a much needed refresh of the original site launched in 1996, which was several years after the announcement of the new “information super highway” by US President Clinton. In those days we were still making presentations using acetate on overhead projectors and a decent home PC could cost upward of five thousand dollars. A lot has changed since we got started in 1995 however there’s one thing that hasn’t changed, in fact it’s intensified, and that is the propensity of elected officials to become misguided and greedy when it comes to motorists. Sadly, the present BC government, just like the last one run by the NDP, has done some dumb things under the guise of public safety. Consequently, BC has not only become one of the most expensive jurisdictions in North America to own and operate a car, but it is a minefield of ill thought out legislation that allows police unreasonable power with the trampling of due process. How do politicians get away with this stuff in a democratic developed country with an educated population? We often muse that politicians feel it’s their job only to legislate, sometimes mindlessly without thought to the inevitable unintended consequences. It’s what gives them stature among their peers as well as their electorate, makes them stand out with media and makes them feel like they are doing something. Polarized politics in BC have often produced weak opposition and in this respect, the BC Liberals have certainly had very little critical scrutiny. Additionally, when a premier decides ...]]></description>
		<link>http://www.sense.bc.ca/2011/12/12/welcome-to-the-new-sense-website/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=welcome-to-the-new-sense-website</link>
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		<title>Realistic Speed Limits Prevented by BC Politics</title>
		<description><![CDATA[The Vancouver Sun originally published this article in May 2009 (SENSE Co-Founder Ian Tootill is the author), however it is no longer available in their online archive. In 1996, 25,000 names were gathered in British Columbia for a petition calling for the removal of photo radar and an independent review of speed limits. The review was completed in 2003 and it revealed what most drivers already knew; that limits on some BC highways are set incorrectly, mostly too low. Over the past 20 years, the BC population has increased by more than 30 percent and roadways have been busier than ever thanks to a recently robust economy. Despite this, we have enjoyed a reduction in crash-related fatalities of nearly 40 percent from a peak in 1990 – more cars, more trips, and fewer deaths. Yet the shrill cries of &#8220;Speed Is Killing Us&#8221; are still heard. Ironically, the enforcement emphasis during the past six years, during a period of dramatic economic growth and road use, has been rightly redirected toward offences with a higher correlation, to at-fault crashes rather than speeding. The RCMP now issues about 250,000 tickets per year for speeding, less than half issued during the peak of photo radar. If proponents of more speed enforcement were correct, there should have been a noticeable increase in fatalities during this time. It has not happened just as it did not happen in the United States subsequent to the 1996 removal, despite intense lobbying of special interests, of the federally ...]]></description>
		<link>http://www.sense.bc.ca/2011/10/05/realistic-speed-limits-prevented-by-bc-politics/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=realistic-speed-limits-prevented-by-bc-politics</link>
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		<title>Sanity and Integrity Needed in BC Speed Limits</title>
		<description><![CDATA[The SENSE mission is to raise the bar in driving competency and have our government set credible speed limits that represent the UPPER LEVEL of safe travel speed thereby encouraging voluntary compliance. The status quo however, wants to keep limits the way they are, while continuing to expose all of us to arbitrary ticketing by the occasional, but sometimes frequent, overzealous traffic cops that understandably wish to follow the letter of the law. Put very simply, we think the reasonable actions by the safe and reasonable majority should be legal. This makes for fewer lawbreakers, creates more respect for laws, requires less costs for policing and courts, frees up the police and courts to deal with serious crime, costs drivers less in fines, allows driver/taxpayers more disposable income which they can spend on stimulating our economy and, it&#8217;s the safest thing to do as we know mean travel speeds will change very little as a result. However, most importantly, speed variance decreases which is another way of saying there is better traffic flow which has known safety benefits, where attempting to enforce unrealistically low limits does not. Drivers will drive close to design speeds of the roads no matter what the speed limits are. If limits are set correctly, not only will speed limit compliance increase but so will crashes decrease as travel speeds become more uniform. Don’t take our word for it, go here. So to summarize, the BC Government, ICBC position is as follows: assume everyone will hit ...]]></description>
		<link>http://www.sense.bc.ca/2011/06/14/sanity-and-integrity-needed-in-bc-speed-limits-2/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=sanity-and-integrity-needed-in-bc-speed-limits-2</link>
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