To ensure safer highway travel, the province of British Columbia is implementing tougher actions to deter trucks from colliding with overpasses and other infrastructure. The new measures, targeting unsafe commercial-vehicle drivers, include escalating consequences for trucking companies involved in infrastructure crashes.

For companies with a history of non-compliance and repeat offenses, enforcement measures will become increasingly severe, potentially leading to the suspension and possible cancellation of the carrier safety certificate, effectively halting their operations in B.C. Notably, unprecedented penalties such as the suspension of an entire fleet during crash investigations will serve as a permanent tool to enhance accountability.

Recent regulatory changes will introduce higher fines for various offenses, holding both carriers and drivers accountable for the safe and professional movement of goods on provincial highways. Speed-limiter regulations, mandating heavy commercial vehicles to activate their speed-limiting systems by April 5, 2024, will contribute to improved safety by restricting these vehicles to a maximum speed of 105 km/h on B.C. highways.

Amendments to Commercial Transport Regulations and Motor Vehicle Act Regulations will address over-height vehicles and loads, requiring dump-style vehicles to have in-cab warning devices by June 1, 2024. Non-compliance with these regulations will result in significant fines, with over-height vehicle-related fines increasing to $575, the highest in Canada. Failure to have in-cab warning devices in dump trucks will result in a fine of $598.

While these fines for infrastructure crashes are set to become the highest in Canada, the province is actively reviewing potential legislative changes to allow for even higher fines in the future.

Learn More

For more information on the new progressive-enforcement framework, visit https://www.cvse.ca/whatsnew.html

For more information about B.C. legislation, visit: https://workingforyou.gov.bc.ca/legislation