Comment 27050

By Mr. Meister (anonymous) | Posted October 27, 2008 at 23:43:31

I don’t believe I said it’s any safer to get hit by a vehicle. Cars are safer because ABS brakes, better tire technology and features like ESC have reduced the number of collisions. So many people write to reduce speeds or make two way streets and that does not address the problem. People make poor choices and unfortunately sometimes they have dire consequences, sometimes for themselves sometimes for others. No amount of legislation will change that. Pedestrians and cyclist especially have little respect or fear for vehicles that is the root of the problem. Have you gone to the pedestrian crossing on Cootes? Am I the only one who sees pedestrians darting across the roads between fast moving cars? Are the cyclists I see ignoring the most basic rules of the road and common sense figments of my imagination?

On the weekend in Toronto a young lady of 20 walking with her sister was killed by a train. Evidently as the barricades came down she evaded them and tried to run across the tracks but tripped and fell. The train struck her and killed her. What a tragedy. This in an effort to save maybe 20 seconds. The entire train was 2 locomotives and no other cars. How do you propose to fix that? Slow down trains? Last year 84 people were killed by trains in Canada, over 40 in Ontario. Were they all going to fast? Making illegal turns? Blowing stop signs?

Earlier today I was driving on Hunter St. as I approached James St. the light turned from red to green. I was coasting and started to accelerate through the intersection. Just as I was entering the intersection a pedestrian who was walking down James St. simply walked out in front of me. He never looked at Hunter St. I blew my horn and he had the audacity to give me the finger as he jumped back onto the sidewalk. What did I do wrong? If only this were an isolated incident but similar things happen with great regularity.

I understand many people don’t come to a complete stop at stop signs and I don’t even mind the rolling stop. The issue I have is with the ones who barely slow down if at all, and that is rarely a car.

I simply don’t see any evidence that the speeds we have are causing accidents. Poor decisions and mistakes are causing our accidents. Reducing speeds and turning our thoroughfares into two way streets will not change that but will cause other problems. Driver frustration will increase and that in itself will cause accidents. Air quality will deteriorate especially in the summer months and that will increase illness and even deaths in the vulnerable part of the populace.

Permalink | Context

Events Calendar

There are no upcoming events right now.
Why not post one?

Recent Articles

Article Archives

Blog Archives

Site Tools

Feeds