July 21, 2003 – Vancouver – A campaign designed to educate motorists in Fort St. John about rear end collisions and how to prevent them is being called a success.
As part of the Fort St. John Safer Cities Initiative’s Brake Light Check Month in June, ICBC and Glass Express Outlets offered free visual inspections and brake light bulb replacements in an effort to promote the importance of functioning brake lights in reducing rear end collisions.
During the Are your lights on? campaign, 258 vehicles were inspected. Of those, 22 vehicles had a tail light replaced and one vehicle had extensive wiring problems.
“Nine per cent of the vehicles we checked needed bulb replacement, compared to the two to five per cent we had been anticipating,” says ICBC’s Regional Road Safety Coordinator Doug MacDonald. “With the number of newer vehicles on the road in Fort St. John, this is a bit surprising, but it indicates this was definitely a valuable campaign.”
MacDonald suggests drivers check their brake lights every season, but particularly in the winter when snow can further impair visibility, to ensure they’re functionning.
Rear end collisions are the number one type of crash in Fort St. John, accounting for 30 per cent of all crashes.
During the month-long campaign, RCMP also conducted extra enforcement and issued tickets to drivers whose vehicles didn’t have working brake lights.
The Fort St. John Safer Cities Initiative would like to thank Glass House, All-West Glass, Alpine Glass, Laurier’s Glass and Peace Glass for participating in the “Are your lights on?” campaign.
The Insurance Corporation of British Columbia (ICBC) is responsible for providing basic automobile insurance in the Province of BC. For more information, visit www.icbc.com
