WHEREAS municipal equipment such as motor graders, snow plows, tractors and mowers, back hoes, etc. work on the municipal roads and road allowances on a regular basis; and

WHEREAS the municipality is responsible for ensuring that roadways are maintained to ensure that the public is able to travel safely on the roads;

BE IT RESOLVED that municipal equipment have the right-of-way over the traffic to help the operators of the equipment get the jobs done efficiently and in a safe manner; and

FURTHER BE IT RESOLVED that traffic must reduce speed to 60 km/hr or less when passing municipal equipment.

Response from Honourable D.F. (Yogi) Huyghebaert, Minister of Corrections, Public Safety and Policing:

Since this resolution falls under SGI, I have referred your letter to my colleague, the Honourable June Draude, Minister Responsible for SGI for a response.

Response from Honourable June Draude, Minister Responsible for SGI:

Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to respond to your letter to Honourable D. F. (Yogi) Huyghebaert, Minister of Corrections, Public Safety and Policy, regarding municipal equipment on municipal roads.

The Traffic Safety Act currently contains several safety provisions regarding passing highway workers and highway equipment. I am pleased to advise you these provisions also apply to municipal workers. Section 219 (7) of The Traffic Safety Act states that, “No driver of a vehicle on a highway shall fail to yield to the right of way to the operator of road maintenance and construction equipment that has its warning lights on. ”

The requirement for drivers to reduce their speed while passing highway workers and highway equipment is also addressed in the Act in Section 203(1). As defined in the Act, the definition of highway workers also includes municipal workers. In short, The Traffic Safety Act already includes provisions that address the items raised in the resolution passed at the recent SARM annual convention. No further action is required or planned.