SOP regarding MCs at road constuction in British Columbia

Does British Columbia and Alberta have a consistant policy/procedure for motorcyclists waiting for a pilot car?

In recent years my wife and I have made two rides into those beautiful Provinces and we plan on making more.

Flaggers have told us conflicting procedures. At various times I've been either "scolded" for not coming foreward to the head of the line and "scolded" when I did. Some flaggers have insisted that motorcyclist have the right of way (their term) and must always come foreward. Others say "didn't you see the no passing sign? Once I was even told to turn around and go back where I originally stopped at the rear of the line.

Often times one can't see the flagger or the flagger is so far away one can't tell if she/he is waving the bikes up or swatting bugs.

Note: On the times I did go forward I always came to a complete stop at the rear of the line then creeped foreward on whatever side of the line of cages that seemed the safest/wisest.

I also know that, in general, flaggers recieve a load of verbal abuse and worse from the driving public. My inquiry is not meant to beef them in any way.

Yeah....that's a grey one, that. There is no actual 'policy' besides the fact that you can't blow the stop sign on a flagger. When i ride, they've always made me come up to the front because of safety. Big trucks don't see us and because we're small, they have us up at the front. In that regard, I guess it's more or less at the discretion of whoever the flagger is. I've seen flaggers turn bikes away and make them go to the back when I was in the lineup, so I managed to let 2 of them ahead of me and I was third from the front.

I used to be a flagger and it was crazy. We did get a lot of verbal abuse, but I didn't get a lot of it...others I know have. People used to always feed me or give me pop, or just stop and shoot the shit. It was cool in that respect. I didn't have a problem with bikes at the head of the line much to the chagrin of the motorists behind them. I mean, wtf...everyone's stopped, what's the big deal if you have half a dozen riders sitting at the pole position? They're gonna pass you anyways, and it's not like they fuck the dog when traffic starts to move. I dunno, to me it's the safest place for a bike to be, is right up at the front. I've made cops go to the back of the line because they wanted to bypass a long linelup of traffic tho. THAT was rather amusing.

SheWolf wrote:

I've made cops go to the back of the line because they wanted to bypass a long linelup of traffic tho. THAT was rather amusing.

Nice


As to being waved to the front - I don't think we've ever had it happen. I'm trying to remember where it was we saw a motorcyclist getting a ticket for doing just that. Could've been BC, could've been in the states (I don't think it was Alberta, we spend much less time riding here - unless you count in the city.)

Like the BC inland ferries, we assume we're supposed to keep to our place in line (stupid as that is....).

If you look at the BC MVA and HA, the definitive word is you must follow the direction of the flagger. But it is also an offense to pass traffic stopped for a highway control device - which would include a flagger. Clear as mud?

A true traffic man will write you up if you pass traffic stopped for a flagger, stop sign, or anything else. And the flagger won't be able to save you from that. The traffic guys will act to keep flaggers safe, but they aren't likely to put up with a flagger telling them how to do their business either. Claiming it was a safety issue because the trucks coming to the end of the line wouldn't see you will just get a polite smile while the ticket gets written.

I stop in my place in line. If the flagger makes eye contact and waves me forward, then I go. Otherwise, I'm waiting my turn in line like everybody else. Fines relating to traffic offenses and construction zones are spendy in BC.

Thanks everyone!

Your answers confirmed what I expected. The law is often rigid. In this case it appears no flexibility is formally extended to the construction crew to run their operation the way they would prefer. Kinda sad that the few BC flaggers I've encountered are confused or incorrectly coached on this. Still, ya gotta love 'em. I always give them a word of encouragment or at least a tip of the helmet. Last summer, on several occasions, I was able to whip out my digital camera and show them this image:

Early morn' Alaska Highway, Yukon Territory between Beaver Creek and the International Line.

They got a kick out of it! But they only got to see it if they waved me foreward!

That is my humble, old oilhead directly behind me. Oh how I love that bike!

Well the flaggers I met were way too busy txting on their cellphone and they didn't give a damn who was where as long as everybody stopped in front of them.