Tom Says: “Some drivers are complete idiots…”
Earlier this week we had a substantial snowfall which began in the early afternoon.
By the time I got to go home, shortly after 3:30 PM, well in excess of five centimetres had already fallen and driving conditions were less than ideal. From work to home, (a distance of about ten kilometres) the first half is spent on a four lane divided highway. So, by this time the right hand lane has two tracks and not quit bare pavement. The left hand lane has no tracks, it’s well and truly snow packed and hardly fit to drive on at all.
The guy in front of me is doing about 60 KM per hour, and that’s okay with me because it means at this speed I might be four minutes later than normal getting home. There are others on the road however who aren’t impressed with the 60 KM speed and don’t have the extra four or five minutes to insure they arrive home alive.
A fully loaded 18-wheeler can’t wait as he flies by, which doesn’t bother me all that much because he’s got 18 points of contact with whatever he’s driving on and all that weight and to keep him out of the ditch.
Along comes this clown in what best can be described as a small front wheel drive car who for some reason thinks 100 KM per hour on a snow packed road is an appropriate speed. He’s followed by a guy in a blue pickup truck who is also of the opinion that he can keep it on the road no matter how fast he goes and there are three or four others in various sizes and shapes of cars who feel the same way.
What gives these “idiots” at the wheel in a driving snowstorm where there is limited visibility the right to feel that 100 KM per hour is an appropriate speed? I checked with our newsroom early the next morning when I came back to work about whether or not there been any accidents on this four lane stretch of highway the previous afternoon.
The answer was negative.
So, by the grace of God, these “idiots” and the others like them all made it home safely, and that certainly makes me feel good. So the next time I’m on the same highway and driving under the same conditions, these same “idiots” will be there too.
I’ll bet you that everyone who reads this has the same story to tell.
I could care less if you’re not worried about your own safety, but please worry about mine.
…AND SLOW DOWN WHEN IT’S SNOWING!!!
I’m Tom Young.
January 21st, 2008 at 11:59 am
Hey Tom,
I’ve become a fan of your afternoon news show and listen when I can. I completely agree with you on this issue. There are a lot of stupid people out there on the road, and as the driving deteriorates they seem to come out in droves. I’ve commented a few times on New Brusnwick drivers on my own Blog (Caffeinated Goodness). I Find that a lot of drivers these days don’t seem to care about the other drivers around them. When I took my drivers course I was told it’s a privilege to be on the road.
The longer I live in Moncton the less for granted do I take this for granted and the more I assert my right to LIVE. I’m originally from NS… There are some pretty bad drivers there… but I honestly find that NB (and mostly Moncton) drivers are worse drivers than those I’ve driven with in NS.
January 22nd, 2008 at 6:18 pm
hey tom ,I could not agree with you more! these v.i.p’s driving around like its summer. going some where important like tim’s . or in a huurry going nowhere, like my paappy used to say. I call them v.i.p.’s because thier selfimportance and carelessness is going to get someone innocent killed.
p.s. v.i.p. stands for vehicularly impaired person
January 28th, 2008 at 1:48 pm
i agree with all of the above, and you hear many people wanting snow tires to be mandatory, but sorry to say it is impossible to enforce. this is because your trusty all season tires have a MS, M/S, M&S or M+S on the sidewall (located just after the tire size). you are probably wondering what that means, it means that the tire has passed the qualification for Mud and SNOW. so unless the tire manufacturers get on board then it just wont fly.