Information related to the author's viewpoint.
A discussion in a local community group recently caught my attention because it illustrated how easily unsafe driving behaviour can become normalized. A resident described a young rider leaving a community centre parking lot on an unlicensed dirt bike, travelling along a public road, performing wheelies at high speed, and then disappearing onto a logging road.
First off, no disrespect to the police. I have a problem when day in and day out the police are pulling people over for traffic violations and running road blocks when there is so much crime going on in B.C cities and towns.
Question: I just came back from a trip I thought I would see what you have to say about an issue that bothers me about how the police do their job. One can not drive very far without encountering one of what I call the crazies. The driver who drives like a fool, way too fast for either weather or road conditions, passing when its not safe and generally putting everyone in his or her path at risk.
For the sake of making my point, I'm going to divide drivers who commit traffic violations into three categories; those that don't know the rules, those that make honest mistakes and those who are selfish and don't think about what their actions might result in.
I shamefully regret to tell you that two years ago I was charged for DUI. Thankfully, I didn't hurt anyone and i wasn't in an accident. However, that doesn't excuse the fact that I did it. I was given a great big fine, my car was impounded and of course my licence was taken away.
I am blessed with readers who send me e-mail to suggest traffic safety topics, share a story or even a bit of humour. It's the humour that triggered this column, specifically a photo of people from a third world country packed into a vehicle in a manner that would be totally unacceptable today in British Columbia.
Daytime running lights have been mandatory for vehicles in Canada since 1990. It appears many drivers and vehicle dealers are not aware of this requirement. Having driven thousands of kilometres over the last 40 years I know that DRL can help prevent accidents particularly on poor light and rainy conditions.
I learned this week that Canadians are considered to rank 42nd out of 50 countries based on how good they are to drive in. This disappointed me until I sat back and thought about it a bit. Based on a bit of self examination and what I see happen around me when I drive I think that I have to say that we are not serious about road safety. Financial loss, injury and death are part of the cost of allowing everyone to move when and where they wish to.
"You don't care about safety! All you guys want to do is suck money out of my pocket!" Here was a speeder that was very definite in his opinion and not afraid to state it. He was wrong, I did care about safety, but my traffic cop toolbox didn't contain many officially sanctioned options for dealing with it.
It is impossible to drive anywhere in town without seeing blatant road law, rule and safety violations. ICBC needs (to be disbanded, and insurance be public first of all) to implement a refresher course at certain intervals for a VERY complacent driver base.