Yes, I think it is. I’m a driver and a walker; I know what’s going on from both sides of the story. Yes, drivers have to be careful of pedestrians, but pedestrians have to be constantly vigilant to not get hurt when they step onto a road where they can expect cars to be, and that includes kids who are old enough to be out without their parents holding their hands.
On a completely different note, Mr. Flaherty would you please STFU? I am poised to purchase a house. The Saskatoon real estate market is moderately stupid but there’s nothing I can do about that. I have saved up 20% down and will gain net worth faster by buying than I will by renting. So stop harping about mortgage rates already! I will not be better off paying 3.2% than I will be paying 3%. The banks profiting more at my expense will not be for my own good.
Stupid fucker.
And on yet another different note, we went for a long walk on this lovely evening tonight - my car registered 14 degrees on my drive home, and it was just gorgeous out. Due for cold and snowy again tomorrow, but it was a very nice reprieve for a day. 
Dear Thunder Bay Telephone:
Please stop telling me that it is not possible for my fax number to work, for it has been doing what you say is not possible for years.
Yours truly,
Your Customer
Two things to add here:
- Add cyclist to that list. I’m all three at some point and I can’t count how many times I’ve witnessed pedestrians walk out onto the road, head down, earphones in, face buried in thier phone/ipod/book (analog Kobo) while two plus tons of metal and rubber bear down on them and never even look up.
- Enact all the laws you want, but unless they are consistently enforced in a broad spectrum, nothing will change. While slowing to 30 is annoying to be sure, smacking a 5 year out of her shoes with my bumper isn’t on my bucket list and I’m pretty sure it’s not on yours.
Alberta’s major highway closed at Edmonton due to what I can only assume is a huge crash due to road conditions (they’re shitty). {Sings}This is the winter that never ends…
That’s just crazy, I don’t think I’ve ever heard of something like that along that highway before (and I remember one year it took us at least six, maybe seven hours to get to Calgary from Edmonton when Dad had to get us back home).
We’re just watching the story on the news - the guy is talking about how they spent five hours in their car, waiting to move. Close to 100 people injured (mostly minor) - 60 to 70 cars piled up!
I obey the school and playground zones (unlike the parents who are always tailgating me in them); I don’t like them, but I do obey them - as you say, I don’t want to injure anybody with my car, ever. I think there has to be a better way to achieve pedestrian safety than school and playground zones, though. I’d be very interested to know just how effective they actually are, compared with parents being extremely thorough with teaching their kids how to be safe while crossing roads.
I think the onus has be on the pedestrians to be safe when they step onto the vehicles’ territory, rather than the current state of affairs where it seems to be only the drivers who are expected to change their behaviours for pedestrians. Pedestrians are encroaching on the territory of the vehicles on the road, and they have to realize that (even while young); vehicles don’t come up on the sidewalks and mow down pedestrians (well, not usually).
I apologize for going off topic, but I live outside Canada now and wanted to keep up on things: does the official, government-approved roster of Canadian Heroes still consist of Roberta Bondar, Craig Kielburger, Silken Laumann, Anne Murray, Margaret Atwood, Wayne Gretzky, David Suzuki and Rita McNeil?
Afraid not. We now have
Chris Hadfield
Justin Bieber
Carly Rae Jepsen
And of course our newest national icon:
Rachel Homan
Pity folks won’t slow down sufficiently (or simply wait out the storm) for winter storm driving.
The astronaut and curler I can understand, but I’m surprised that those two singers are Canadian icons. Things must be really changing. There was a time when only androgynous teachers’ pets could become big in Canada. (No wonder Pam Anderson had to escape to the USA.)
I have a personal interest in promoting “the curler.” My niece is on the team and they’ve made the playoffs at the world championship in Latvia now. Go Rachel!
We saw the team on tv the other day and thought of you!
Congratulations. (Ontario needs some new heroes now that Kim Mitchell has fallen off the map!)
Who (to half the list)?
No Terry Fox?
Hélène Campbell is the new Terry Fox.
She’s lovely and all but she’s no Terry Fox.