National

B.C. to hike commercial vehicle crash penalties after 35 over-height truck incidents

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 12 Mar, 2024 01:34 PM

Penalties for commercial truck crashes into overpasses or other infrastructure in British Columbia are set to soar, including fines of up to $100,000 and jail sentences up to 18 months.

The New Democrat government says it's proposing changes to the Commercial Transport Act that currently prescribes fines for over-height vehicles of $500 to $598, levels that are unchanged for decades.

Transportation Minister Rob Fleming says the proposed changes are in response to 35 crashes involving over-height commercial vehicles since late 2021.

The province last month cancelled the operating licence of B.C. trucking firm Chohan Freight Forwarders after one of its commercial vehicles lodged a steel girder in an overpass over Highway 99 in Delta in December.

Fleming says laws surrounding highway infrastructure crashes in B.C. have not changed since the 1970s, and the proposed maximum penalties for commercial transport violations will exceed those of other provinces and territories.

B.C. Trucking Association president Dave Earle says in a statement the association supports the proposed penalty increases.

Prev Next

MORE National ARTICLES

Minister backs shift away from privately owned rooming hotels after B.C. fire inquest

British Columbia's housing minster says the province needs to shift away from accommodating vulnerable people in privately owned rooming hotels — but it won't be fast or cheap. Ravi Kahlon's remarks come after the jury in a coroner's inquest into the deadly 2022 Winters Hotel fire in Vancouver made more than two dozen safety recommendations on Monday.

Minister backs shift away from privately owned rooming hotels after B.C. fire inquest

Street cleaning grants for Vancouver

The City of Vancouver has approved 2.64-million-dollars in grants in support of street-cleaning programs this year. The grants support programs that supplement street-cleaning work completed by City crews and have been active for 24 years.

Street cleaning grants for Vancouver

B.C. Crown counsel group raises safety concerns, Eby says no move for courthouse

Premier David Eby says the government is not currently considering the relocation of a provincial courthouse in downtown Vancouver, where the president of the British Columbia Crown Counsel Association says safety concerns are on the rise. A statement from Adam Dalrymple says a recent attack on a prosecutor near the courthouse at 222 Main St. underscores the need for a "serious discussion" about whether it should be moved away from the Downtown Eastside.

B.C. Crown counsel group raises safety concerns, Eby says no move for courthouse

Police apprehend foreign nationals who crossed into Canada on foot from United States

A Calgary man has been arrested for human smuggling after police allege he picked up foreign nationals who crossed on foot into Manitoba from the United States last month. Mounties in Manitoba say they received information from the United States Border Patrol that a group was walking northbound along a rail line toward the Canadian border near the town of Emerson.

Police apprehend foreign nationals who crossed into Canada on foot from United States

Delta man faces arson charges

A man is facing arson charges after allegedly setting fire to the same location in Delta two days in a row. Delta police say one of the incidents happened on February 1st, when an officer saw a fire in the disposal shed of a local restaurant.

Delta man faces arson charges

Suspect charged in Nigeria over sextortion of B.C. boy who died: RCMP

Police in British Columbia say a suspect in Nigeria has been charged over the sextortion of a B-C boy who died last year. Surrey RCMP say officers from their detachment travelled to Nigeria last summer, where they worked with local authorities to arrest two people, one of whom was released.