Stephen Dukoff | Jun 07, 2017


I was interested to read last week's piece on the OPP initiative to  "Share the Road" and the chilling statistics that 94 pedestrians were killed and 3,523 were injured in Ontario in 2014.

I'm a senior, and I walk my dog along the local road twice a day, usually trying to deal with the constant stream of roadside litter.  (Sadly I can't walk in my back woods anymore because the ticks have now become so bad.) There are a few of us who enjoy walking the local roads, alone or with our dogs or young children.  That's a good thing, because rates of obesity are much higher in rural areas, and walking is a cheap and effective way to keep fit and to reduce medical costs, which everyone pays for. Unfortunately, it can be a frequently unnerving experience to have a car pass you 4 feet away doing 80 kph, 100 kph and sometimes even more.  Some drivers seem to enjoy playing chicken, approaching you at speed and only moving over when they're perhaps 20 feet away, and then not even moving completely into the other lane.  As I said, unnerving.  Last year, the posted speed on most of these roads was reduced by the township to 60 kph, but that has made almost no difference.  In fact, I'm often passed by cars doing well over the speed limit when I'm standing right beside one of the 60 kph signs.  I have to wonder why we even have speedometers in car dashboards.  There are a few ignorant people who purposely enjoy hurtling past at very high speeds, usually young men in large pickup trucks (one of whom stopped and threated to "beat the sh-- out of me" when I yelled at him for roaring past me last year.).  At lesser speeds are women in SUV's, not infrequently on cell phones.  They know they're  not likely to be caught on back roads and, until they kill someone, it's all good. However,  I actually believe that most drivers don't  appreciate how intimidating their speed is, since they often give me a wave as they hurtle past.  (Forgive me when I don't wave back.)  I think it's ironic that, in Kingston, where there are wide boulevards and sidewalks to protect pedestrians, the speed limit is 50 kph.

Out here, where we don't really even have much of a shoulder on the road, people are willing to drive past at 80.  The answer can't be enforcement--the police are paid far too much today to be bothered putting speed traps on rural roads.  No, the answer lies in a return to road courtesy.  I don't really care if you want to travel 80 on these roads when no one is around, but please slow down and move over when you see someone walking.  

It's the neighbourly thing to do.  And, if that isn't enough of a reason, do you really want to risk being "that guy" who injures or kills a pedestrian, their kids or their dog?

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