Oh, gravel truck driver, gravel truck driver, where is thine tarp, oh gravel truck driver?
You know the line I’m referencing, and the spirit of emotion behind it — I hope.
If you don’t know, it’s based off dialogue in William Shakespeare’s play Romeo and Juliet.
This isn’t an attack against truck drivers, because I grew up with a truck-driver dad and I understand the toll that kind of a life takes on a person, but I am concerned for the safety of myself and other motorists.
The other day, I was driving down Highway 33, and I was behind a gravel truck.
The truck did not have the load it was carrying tarped, nor did it bear any indicative markings that it belonged to the Alberta Sand and Gravel Association (ASGA) — a requirement I thought that all gravel trucks must adhere to within the County of Barrhead, and while I have no idea whether the flying object came from the truck bed, bumper or tires, a rock hit my windshield with enough force to warp the layer of plastic between the glass.
But rocks hit windshields all the time, so I shouldn’t be so shocked right?
How about the fact that it nearly ditched me, or if the rock’s velocity had been a little higher it could possibly have gone completely through and caused an even bigger accident.
I am aware that this type of thing is a common road hazard, and that gravel-hauling contracts awarded before this year have been ‘grandfathered’ in — this according to county manager Mark Oberg, so that requirements such as tarping, bearing the ASGA emblem, driving at a speed no greater than 80 km/h, et cetera, all of these conditions do not apply, but I believe a little bit of common sense goes a long way.
As I said, this is not an attack against truck drivers.
I know, through dealings with my father, that most of the big rigs and dump trucks barreling down the roads are on a bit of a time-crunch, but it shouldn’t take too long to check your bumper and tires for loose rocks.
The one that hit my windshield left a crack the size of a horseshoe that is parallel with my adam’s apple.
It’s a deep crack, and like I stated above, the safety plastic between the two layers of glass shifted with the force of the strike.
I’ve never seen that before, and neither have some of the glass specialists I’ve shown it to.
Slow down guys.
No one has to die because of a blasé attitude.
