Manitoba’s Highway Traffic Amendment Act took effect on New Year’s Day, aimed at improving road safety for both travelers and road safety workers.
Also known as Bill 38, it establishes three main road safety initiatives, including rules for drivers around winter maintenance vehicles, requiring drivers approaching or passing snowplows with blue warning lights activated, to stay back 30 metres back on roads with speed limits of 80 kilometres an hour or slower, and to stay back one hundred metres on roads with speed limits above 80 km/h.
As well, drivers must not pass if the view ahead is obstructed, or if passing interferes with the maintenance vehicle or its work.
The Bill also establishes a safe passing distance for cyclists, requiring drivers to leave at least one metre of space when passing, bringing the province in line with several other provinces.
And tow truck and roadside assistance operators may now place cones and signs to alert drivers and divert traffic from work zones.
Comments