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On Maniac Drivers CDN Oxford – maniac: a person exhibiting extreme symptoms of wild behaviour. Dear Editor: Wednesday's edition of the North Shore News provided enough food for thought to last a month of Sundays. It was not difficult find the common denominator in three issues under the headlines on pages 5, 7, and 8: DNV looks at traffic calming, by Andy Prest, Corrections needed in jail, by Dan Lemieux, and Lynn Valley residents fuming over parking, by Deneka Michaud - the kid-glove treatment of those lawbreakers who actually do some time for their actions. People end up in prisons because no-one has ever drawn their boundaries on the little things, so it is to be hoped that the points raised by Prest and Michaud received more than a, 'So what's new?' shrug from busy readers not directly affected, because that's not good enough. Can we claim we live in a lawful society, when even 'good' citizens cock-a-snoot at the law? Clr. Muri's examples are only a tiny piece of the whole. Lawmakers at all levels of government make the rules - but where is their will to enforce them? We've all seen it -- drivers going 60 through a school zone; pedestrians jaywalking 12 feet from expensive, recently-built, controlled crosswalks - one on 13th near Lonsdale and one on 27th near Lynn Valley mall. How many times have we seen three, four cars driving through a late amber or frank red? or drivers cutting off half the opposing lane on a left turn; peeing on private gardens, graffiti on walls, smashed playgrounds? You name it, it happens, right here on the North Shore. I'm not perfect and I understand people make errors in judgment, but what's happening on our roads and highways is lawbreaking, plain and simple. Like many residents, I'm fed up with having a muscle car riding my tail because I'm obeying the speed limit; or a 30-something Mum - even a school bus yesterday - overtaking me through a Keith Road school crosswalk, because she's in a hurry to drop off her kid and get to work. And I'm sick of trying to obey the 30-click signs at 13th/15th and Grand Boulevard, only to have the driver of a pickup give me the finger as he overtakes on the right -- yes, all those and more during the past few weeks, with nary a police officer to be seen. The City of North Vancouver has spent a fortune in tax dollars on speed bumps, sidewalk cut-ins and unenforced speed zones. That has not solved the problem, yet the District is set to do the same? Save our money, Folks. Instead, lobby senior governments to triple the fines for breaking the law, and use the revenue to buy more traffic bylaw officers and police-hours - preferably a lot of them on bikes, or on foot. It would sure be cheaper than paying for the emergency personnel I saw this afternoon - the reason why I got so steamed at yesterday's articles. Those paramedics, fire and police were sirening eight or so expensively-equipped vehicles up Lynn Valley Road to take care of 4 innocent tourists - three of whom were ploughed into at a bus stop. One jumped out of the way. Three remain in hospital - two in serious condition following surgery. Early Friday news tells us two are in their twenties and from the UK, and two are from New Zealand. Police report speed and failure to yield caused the crash. Why am I not surprised? Because that was the way people were driving Thursday afternoon on our crowded, rain-slick roads. So much so, that the car ahead of me as I waited to exit the Royal Bank driveway, gunned it into traffic - right across the path of one of the northbound fire trucks! What in blazes is the matter with people? We cannot claim to be 'the best place on earth' if we tolerate no-fault lawlessness. Our community should be ashamed of itself. This type of behaviour has become the norm, and the responsibility is ours to put a stop to it. If we do not, then perhaps exorbitant fines and lengthy loss of driving privileges will do the job for us. In the meantime, let's all send cards and flowers to the young tourists who have had their journey so unkindly cut short. - 30 - Postscript: Since this letter was written, a much-valued, special-ed teacher in North Shore elemntary schools, was killed when his car, northbound on Lynn Valley Road, was T-boned by a car that ran a stop sign at Emery Place. So far as I am aware, the driver who exited Emery still has not been identified. Then, last Thursday, as I was eastbound on 1st Street, just after 8 a.m., a mid-size, dark-coloured, jeep-type SUV blasted by me on the right, at about 70 kph, straight through the red light at Pemberton. I was already completely stopped for the light. Why? Perhaps he ain't nothin' but a gamblin' man - or because his journey so important that, had he killed one or more drivers about to resume their North-South travel, all he would have received would have been recognition of time-served, a 30-day suspension, and a few weeks of community service. (I say "he" but the drive could well have been a she - too fast to tell) EJ Elizabeth James writes from North Vancouver, British Columbia. A strong advocate for political integrity and accountability, she believes that due process in government and firm justice by the courts are the foundation of democracy. “Many of the problems in Canada today,” James says, “can be laid at the feet of those who omitted the essential word ‘Responsibility’ when they drafted our Charter of Rights and Freedoms. As a result, Canadians bear a heavy burden of politicians who pay only lip-service to democratic process, and of revolving door courts who apply lenient sentences that do little to prevent crime. This situation cannot change until enough Canadians demand that it must. |
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