They’re known as the elephants of the road, and, like elephants, require lots of space, move at a steady, slower pace, and are subject to special rules of the road. In British Columbia, as elsewhere in Canada, semi trucks are not always permitted in the passing lane for motorway safety reasons.
No matter what state road conditions are in, some drivers remain oblivious. As such, some accident events cannot be blamed on the extreme weather that continues to dog British Columbia this winter. In a recent car accident, one driver, who apparently didn’t know when to quit, left one crash scene only to cause a second collision further on.
Many young families in British Columbia choose to live in neighbourhoods where traffic is minimal, largely local and with appropriate speed limits. Sometimes, city planning authorities will forge ahead with enhancements, like bicycle paths, which alter traffic patterns so significantly that a pedestrian accident becomes more, not less, likely.
The classic British reply to the question, “how are you?” is “all weather and traffic,” usually delivered with a heavy sigh, whereby everyone gets the picture. That’s just what’s happening in British Columbia this winter, as motorists encounter hazardous road conditions.
Ever since the advent of pop psychology and the Me Generation, there have been labels assigned to the following generations, such as Generation X or millennials. In British Columbia, our young people are sometimes chided, in print or online, for self-centered or irresponsible behaviour.
Increasingly in major cities, public transit has become the poster child of environmentalist progress, promising diminished urban pollution. City buses filled with British Columbia citizens enjoying comparatively stress-free travel from point A to point B implicitly trust their professionally trained bus drivers to proceed without mishap.
Once drivers shift into gear, their mindset switches seamlessly to steering a big hunk of steel up and down motorways, with all due caution. When they step out of a car, even for a minute, they become, for all intents and purposes, pedestrians.
What is newsworthy in our culture is reported and carried by several sources, each offering a different angle or approach to the same news item. One of the main criteria for what makes the news is based on how well a news story captures attention.
It’s hard to fathom why the number of car accidents spikes during three-day weekend holidays. The Nov. 11 statutory holiday shows close to a 35 per cent rise in vehicle collisions, in British Columbia and elsewhere. A time set aside for sober reflection on the loss of war veterans, the day takes on an added poignancy when it marks the death of a young adult in a car crash.
The stark contrast in climate between Eastern Canada and Western Canada has always been a descriptor of the overall national character of our wintry country. Lately, however, the relatively balmy weather that British Columbia is known for has been in flux.
