Editor: By now, we’ve all heard about the tragic and unnecessary death of the school bus driver Jim Neiss, on 16 Avenue on Jan. 18.
I was very pleased to see the police pulling speeding drivers over on Monday afternoon. On Tuesday, I noticed the volume of drivers on that country road had diminished considerably. I don’t know if this was because of the police presence on Monday, fear of truckers, or fear of getting into an accident.
On Wednesday, I was being followed by an elderly woman in a car who had a large dump truck behind her. I stayed within the 60 to 63 km/h speed rate. No one decided to pull out from behind me.
But the woman driver insisted on trying to encourage me to speed up by tailgating me, backing off, tailgating, backing off. I persisted in maintaining my speed.
Here’s one solution that might help. If everyone who drives refuses to speed above the posted rate, then everyone following you will also have to drive at that speed. If someone decides to pass you, and attempts to drive faster than the speed limit, they will soon be behind another driver going only 60 km/h. This would leave little leeway for speeding, if everyone takes the responsibility of driving seriously.
The truck drivers are not the only drivers speeding on 16 Avenue — it’s the drivers of all types of vehicles.
Police officers, paramedics, and firefighters really do not want to see you. When one of these folks sees you, you know you or somehow else has made a terrible choice to speed, to maim, or to kill. Is this how you and your fellow drivers want to end your day?
Deborah Cooper,
Langley
