Manitoba motorists are now legally required to give significantly more breathing room to snowplows and cyclists as a series of provincial traffic amendments officially took effect New Year’s Day.<\/p>\n
The Highway Traffic Amendment Act, announced by Transportation and Infrastructure Minister Lisa Naylor on Jan. 1, introduces strict distance requirements for passing winter maintenance vehicles and sets a minimum safety buffer for passing bicycles.<\/p>\n
“Our government is committed to road safety for all, and this bill introduces rules for drivers around snowplows and cyclists and gives tow truck drivers the ability to create a safe zone while working in traffic,” Naylor said in a statement.<\/p>\n
Under the new legislation, drivers approaching or passing a snowplow with its blue warning lights flashing must adhere to specific “stay back” distances:<\/p>\n
High-speed roads: On highways with a speed limit above 80 km\/h, motorists must stay back at least 100 metres.Lower-speed roads: On roads with a limit of 80 km\/h or slower, the minimum distance is 30 metres.<\/p>\n
Drivers are also prohibited from passing a plow if the view ahead is obstructed or if the maneuver risks interfering with the maintenance work.<\/p>\n
The amendments also address long-standing safety concerns for vulnerable road users and emergency workers. Drivers must now leave at least one metre of space when passing a cyclist, a move that aligns Manitoba with provinces like Ontario and British Columbia.<\/p>\n
Additionally, tow truck and roadside assistance operators have been granted the authority to use cones and signage to divert traffic and create “safe zones” while working on busy roadways.<\/p>\n
Kyle Ross, president of the Manitoba Government and General Employees\u2019 Union (MGEU), welcomed the changes on behalf of front-line workers.<\/p>\n
“When winter storms hit, we know how dangerous Manitoba\u2019s highways can be,” Ross said. “We welcome changes that recognize the importance of this work and make these workers\u2019 jobs safer.”<\/p>\n
The provincial government said the amendments were developed following extensive consultations with municipalities, law enforcement, and various industry advocacy groups. \u2014 Ren\u00e9e Lilley is a Local Journalism Initiative reporter who works out of the Portage Graphic. The Local Journalism Initiative is funded by the Government of Canada.<\/p>\n
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Manitoba motorists are now legally required to give significantly more breathing room to snowplows and cyclists as a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":384929,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[445],"tags":[49,48,635,18654,50312,55110,22493,42368,74493,44340,163731,44345,13130,32146,163732,82,1890,44343,2882,44347,44346,16085],"class_list":["post-384928","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cycling","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-cycling","tag-driving","tag-economy-of-transport","tag-highway","tag-land-transport","tag-road","tag-road-infrastructure","tag-road-safety","tag-road-traffic-safety","tag-road-transport","tag-safety","tag-spare-news","tag-speed-limit","tag-sports","tag-traffic","tag-traffic-law","tag-transport","tag-transport-infrastructure","tag-transport-safety","tag-vehicles"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/384928","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=384928"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/384928\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/384929"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=384928"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=384928"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=384928"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}