the #1 Vedder Canal Bridge is a frequent point for serious & often fatal accidents. It's even known by Highways and the Media that the bridge design was seriously flawed at the get go. The bridge and highway was designed for traffic conditions of 40 to 50 years ago. It's a death trap. Vehicles today are faster, more responsive and there are several times more on the road at any given time than when the highway was opened. For close to 30 years the political dogma in BC was we need to spend less on road improvements so transit could be improved and extended. As a result with the typical political will in BC we got neither. Anyone know you could take a train to fish the Chilliwack River until the late 50s?
Seventeen vehicles at random is a pretty good sample as anyone with a basic knowledge of statistics would know. So most everyone is driving inappropriately in the face of risks. People drive the way they do for a variety of reasons beyond simple undo attention. Problem drivers constitute those who drive without sufficient care (too fast too close) and those who don't follow basic common sense & rules of the road - keep with the flow in your lane, stay to the right if you can't. First generation drivers (PC for immigrants) are recognized within the auto insurance industry as a major source of traffic accidents and industries. For the rest of us we are inculcated into North American driving patterns by spending 15 or more years driving in the company of our parents. My frequent experience on the #1 is there are 2 speeds - too fast or too slow for the conditions - happening simultaneously. You leave enough room between your car and the one in front and some speed demon will slip in there and viola you are tailgating. Same problem with passers moving from the right lane to the left and not accelerating to the speed in the left lane. The change in the safe driving habits of very large commercial vehicles over the last 20 years is shocking. That has been driven by economics as driver pay has been linked to time constraints - they lose pay for being late.
Overall I'd say that better than half of the safety issues on our highways is systemic.
Author
Topic: Fire Under Canal Highway Bridge Causes Accident (Read 25446 times)