Speed Bumps

Well, we like our speed don’t we? Mayor Katz set off another bomb the other day saying that the city was thinking of looking into reducing speed limits in town. The response on facebook was like static machine gun fire. I just happened to mention what speeds were like in the not too distant past and immediately got dumped on from all quarters. Holy regulation Batman! Touchy, touchy, touchy. As it is, nobody follows speed limits anyway. There’s that stupid ten km. leeway in the speed limit that leaves me wondering where the slow lane is anyway. Jeez, a couple of years ago some Alberta redneck was speeding down Henderson Highway, going through an amber light when he was caught on one of them radar cameras. When he saw the flash go off he slammed on his brakes, backed up his pickup truck, took a rifle down from the gun rack behind the seat and shot the damned camera. Satisfied, he drove off. Needless to say, Winnipeg’s finest had a chat with him later about the incident ( having his license number on camera).

Well, that notwithstanding, it seems to reflect the general attitude of drivers. One gets the idea that when they’re in their vehicle they feel like they’re in their own living room and can’t be told what to do. So they text, talk on the phone, eat their breakfasts, read books. You name it and somebody will be doing it. Well everything that is except driving. I want to know whatever happened to paying attention to the road. Cripes, did you ever notice the number of drivers flying through stop signs in residential districts? Last time I looked at those red signs on the corners, they said STOP. I’ve never seen one that says GO FOR IT.

A couple of winters ago my lovely white Hyundai Sonata got Tee-boned by a woman who came screaming out her car saying she had to get to the dentist for a surgery, basically blaming me for being in her road and driving a white car in the snow. She never mentioned that she was required to yield the right-of way though, just that she would be late getting to the dentist. I could quote you chapter and verse about people I know that have had similar experiences, usually ending up in a write off of the vehicles involved.

I’ll tell you what. Multi tasking behind the wheel of a car ain’t such a good idea. It might be if you considered that driving the blamed vehicle was the primary task. Forty and fifty clicks per hour ain’t such a bad speed. It’s actually quite comfortable until you get them cowboys climbing up your tail. The only thing you have to do is to leave wherever on time to get to the other wherever on time, or at all. At least that’s how it seems to me from up here on the top shelf.

Just sayin’.