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Letters

Editor's Note

Melissa Vasey - Editor-in-Chief

OK, so I might not be the most fantastic driver to ever hit these dusty Kamloops roads.

I learned the hard way why drivers don’t take that sharp turn on the Summit connector at 60 kilometers an hour and have accidentally cut off my fair share of vehicles and pedestrians.

When I do something stupid, other people have every right to honk their horns or flip me off or yell obscenities that I can’t actually hear through their closed windows. But what irks me is when they freak out because I’m being too cautious.

The driving instructor that had the honour of telling me I passed my N test, also trapped me in the car for a long, stern lecture about the danger of being overly cautious. I thought this was an interesting thing to scold me for, because it doesn’t really apply to any other facet of life.

Sex ed is based on the premise of being as cautious as possible, whether we’re talking abstinence or birth control.

Every workplace in this city has safety regulations that tell one how to lift a box or cut meat, to ensure you don’t take shortcuts in the process and injure yourself.

Yet, people seem to think that when I’m behind the wheel, I should speed up and act recklessly, because they’re too wound up to just relax.

I was in Abbotsford recently, waiting to turn left from the main road at a rather busy location. I chose not to go through the first gap of traffic, because I thought it would be a bit of a close call.

When I went through the second gap, mere seconds later, the woman who had been waiting at the off-road stop sign was absolutely livid. She was flapping her arms wildly and yelling things that I imagine weren’t too nice.

Why? Because I chose not to take a risk that I thought may have been fatal? You have got to be kidding me. That’s not logical.

I think everyone would prefer I wait an extra fifteen seconds, than smash into the side of an oncoming vehicle. People’s safety aside, that kind of delay is going to set everyone back a lot longer than fifteen seconds.

Besides, my car has every safety feature available – it’s not me I’m worried about.