Somehow, it seems that we’re still not getting the message.
No matter how many times we drive in winter conditions, and how many times we’re warned to slow down, we still inevitably see an increase of incidents on our highways in the winter — especially when we get a heavy snowfall.
We saw this last week during a heavy snow event on Wednesday, and it’s a problem that seems to crop up every time we get a heavy snowfall.
This, in an area where we pride ourselves on our ability to withstand the cold winters that our friends and families in warmers climates shake their head at.
And this problem obviously isn’t limited to Westlock. Each year, about 3,000 people die on Canada’s roadways. All over the country, people aren’t getting the message that we need to slow down and arrive safe to our destinations.
The problem is a pretty complicated one. Obviously we can’t simply shut down the highways. Cars, like any other tool that has the potential for fatal repercussions, don’t cause death in a vacuum. It comes down to our own attitudes behind the wheel.
We treat motor vehicles as tools to be revered for their ability to get us quickly to our destinations over great distances, and rightly so. The personal vehicle has helped to change the face of our entire society when compared to 100 years ago.
But the more people drive, the more people die. And that’s on us. In every neighbourhood in Westlock, if you watch long enough you’ll see cars and trucks fishtailing through the snow as if it’s some kind of game.
The solution, the way to reduce the incidents of motor vehicle collisions and the death and carnage that can inevitably result, isn’t to tighten up the laws and impose further restrictions.
We have criminal laws against drunk driving, and a lengthy document telling us all the details of how to behave as drivers on Alberta’s highways.
The solution will be a collective change in our attitude, where we don’t sit idly by knowing that our friends and family are taking others’ lives into their own hands by driving drunk, or too fast, or otherwise irresponsibly.
