VANCOUVER

B.C. decreasing speed limits on 15 sections of highway

CTV Vancouver Published Tuesday, November 6, 2018 9:53AM PST Last Updated Tuesday, November 6, 2018 4:16PM PST

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The B.C. government has announced it's lowering the speed limit by 10 km/h on 15 stretches of highway across the province.

All of the areas being impacted had their speed limits raised in 2014 under the previous BC Liberal government, and each has since seen a hike in collisions, according to the province.

"Some highways have seen an alarming increase in speed-related accidents," Transportation Minister Claire Trevena said Tuesday. "Between Chase and Sorrento on Highway 1, people are driving near the speed limit, but accidents increased an alarming 65 per cent."

The most common contributing factors in the collisions were driver inattentiveness, road conditions and driving too fast for conditions, the government said.

The original increases, which were implemented as part of the province's Rural Safety and Speed Review, applied to 33 sections of highway. The speed limit hikes for two were rolled back in 2016, and the increases will remain in place on the other 16, where crash rates weren’t affected. That includes the Coquihalla Highway from Hope to Kamloops.

"There hasn't been an increase in accidents over three years on the Coquihalla, that's why that's not getting the rollback," Trevena said.

Some of the segments that are changing include Highway 1, where the limit is dropping in five different areas, and Highway 99, where it's decreasing from Horseshoe Bay all the way to Pemberton.

MLA Todd Stone, who was the transportation minister when the increases took effect four years ago, defended his decision Tuesday.

"We don't just wake up one morning and say we're going to drive faster," he said. "We don't do that. This is a thoughtful, deliberate process led entirely by the engineers in the ministry."

The new decreased limits are taking effect immediately, and the government said it's working to have all roadside signs updated by the end of the week.

All told, 570 kilometres of highway will be subject to new limits.

The RCMP said it will be boosting enforcement in crash-heavy areas in order to make sure people are paying attention. Insp. Tim Walton, officer in charge of the Island District Traffic Services, said slowing down can "significantly reduce the severity of a collision and the chance of drivers being severely injured or killed."

"As we shift into winter driving mode, police are reminding drivers to obey speed limits, adopt safe and defensive driving habits, and to drive sober and distraction-free," Walton said in a statement.

The full list of decreased speed limits includes: