Oceanside Community Safety Volunteers

Walking is one of the best ways to stay in shape and maintain a healthy lifestyle. More than ever, people are getting out to enjoy a walk through our beautiful communities. It may be time to ask ourselves what we can do as pedestrians to avoid harm while walking.

ICBC and the RCMP will be extra vigilant in their efforts to deter distracted driving this March. As distracted driving has now taken over as the second leading cause of fatalities in our Province, March has been chosen as distracted driving awareness month.

According to ICBC: Distracted driving is a leading cause of car crash fatalities in B.C. and one of the most common distractions behind the wheel is  a mobile electronic device. Most of us know not to text or check emails while driving, but programming a GPS, changing a song, or even playing a game can be just as dangerous.

1) March 3, a report of a theft from a shed in the 200 block of Shelly Road, Parksville was received. The property owner stated that over the past couple of weeks, several items have gone missing from his shed. These items included tools, wiring, welding supplies and copper piping.

1) February 21 at 5:00 p.m, Oceanside RCMP were called to the 200 Block of Corfield Street in Parksville. The Business owner had found 2 teens attempting to break into a storage shed on the property. The teens were chased off and fled on bicycles. After investigation it was discovered that another shed had been entered and that a number of items including a large quantity of fishing gear was missing.

Our provincial driving manual Learn to Drive Smart devotes an entire chapter to the concept of See - Think - Do Method. See: The pedestrian waiting to cross the street in the intersection. Think: There are no lines painted on the pavement, but it is an unmarked crosswalk and I have to stop for the pedestrian. Do: Yield the right of way to the pedestrian and allow them to cross the street.

In a perfect world, drivers would have no hesitation in stopping for pedestrians, pedestrians would use a crosswalk properly and the authorities would construct roads to facilitate both.

OCSV's Mike Garland speaks with The Beach FM's Dave Graham discussing upcoming events.

1) 2017-919 On February 1st, a theft from vehicle was reported to have occurred in the 100 block of Maple Crescent in Parksville. The complainant advised that during the early hours of January 31st culprits entered her unlocked vehicle and stole a blue Apple Ipod Nano touch screen in a black rubber case and a small quantity of change from the centre console.

I'm not a lawyer reads the e-mail, I'm a grandfather but I want to be able to help my grandson dispute a traffic ticket. At his first appearance on this ticket the presiding justice refused to let me participate telling me that my grandson was old enough to do it himself. There wasn't enough time to get to his hearing that day so I want to try again. How do I get the court's permission to do this?

1) 2017-824 On January 30th, a theft from vehicle was reported to have occurred in the 200 block of Island Highway East in Parksville. The complainant advised that at approximately 10:15 am, she parked in front of the pharmacy and went into the store to pick something up. When she returned moments later a bag of groceries was missing from her front passenger seat.