To the editor,
Re: Police want to reverse unsafe driving trends, April 30.
I was really gratified to see that the police are going to step up activity to curb speed on the old Island Highway.
I live in Chase River and work at the north end of town. It should be an easy drive on the parkway but I find it nerve racking. If I pull out to pass a cube van or semi so I have visibility of what is going on in the lane ahead, I invariably end up with a powerhouse truck tailgating me and forcing me to speed up to 100 kilometres per hour to pass. But then you find that the cars in the slow lane are also tailgating so you can’t move over. When you finally boot it to move over, those in the passing lane blast ahead at a minimum 110km/h and there will be a half a dozen with just a car length between. So I now take the old Island Highway and find that the same thing happens only at a somewhat slower speed. Very few cars slow down to 50 on Nicol Street and I too have been flipped off.
Maybe it would help bring awareness of the dangers of speeding if we actually heard the results of some of the investigations into the horrific accidents. For instance, it has always puzzled me how two pickup trucks could have collided at 5 a.m. at a light controlled intersection at the old Island Highway and Cranberry. Was it driver error, speed, mechanical malfunction, medical issue? Too many times reporters sensationalize the result but we never hear the cause. If the causes could be given, even in statistical format, it may help drivers realize that arriving alive is more important than arriving on time.
Kathy Reilly, Nanaimo
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