Drive to Kill!

They call it an accident. A  slamming of the breaks and a wrenching of the steering wheel - seconds? milliseconds?? after impact. Whether that impact is with a gravel truck, lamp post, mini-van, or teenager on his bike travelling at night through an unmarked crosswalk, it's often too, too late.  2,011 vehicular collisions resulted in a daughter, father, sister, uncle, aunt, mom, brother being killed 2,209 times in Canada in 2009.   Why? Even if the numbers of these tragic deaths are down from generations passed, this unneccesary taking of life will never be the same for the families that are left behind. Sometimes, destroying that family beyond any hope of repair.

Sometimes when I am driving I envision that pedestrian walkway I just coasted through. Or that 3-way stop in front of the school. Did I really do everything I could have to ensure the absolute safety of anyone that might have been there?  I like to think I did. I like to think I am a pretty good driver. But then again: So. Does. Everybody.

MADD is probably the #1 advocate towards the creation of positive change of driver attitudes. Despite sad year-to-year reports of not much ever improving for alchol related traffic deaths. Maybe for real change to ever happen though, we need a PADD - Politicians Against Drunk Driving. This is only a pipe dream though, because it is usually the politicians that can't stop drinking! In all seriousness, though, the senseless murders on Canadian roadways have to stop. I think it would be great if the city would leave the fatality signs up wherever someone has succumb to a traffic-inflicted tragedy. And perhaps when a 2nd, 3rd, or 4th or 10th loss of life occurs there, they put up a round bright orange 2 foot sign with the cumulative number of deaths at the location that it happened. This would probably result in the public's realization that current mitigation techniques at ending road deaths is inadequate.    In the meantime, families continue to suffer because someone just doesn't get it. Christopher Dew's sentencing for the murder of a grandmother of 6 is slated for today.  The conviction of this murderer might result in a 24 month or else a 30 month prison sentence, depending on whether the Courts feel that the extra 6 whole months will do him any good or not. Keep in mind that this clean-cut white boy has served as a peacekeeper in Bosnia and is looking forward to becoming a humanitarian aid worker in some poor, poor, developing country. Currently, my aunt's native-born foster child is serving a 2 year sentence for trafficking marijuana, first offence.   What gives.

Even when it isn't alcohol-induced idiocy behind the wheel, there still remains the constant potential for certain traffic death. This is often due to belligerent, ignorant asshole drivers that have no respect for anything but themselves.

Impatience is wearing thinner than ever on Alberta roadways. Merging onto a freeway can be stupidly hazordous as speed-demons cut through solid white lines, disregarding any respect for their fellow road companion or the laws of the city that are put in place to make us all feel at least a little more safe.  Stale yellows? Well, you go right ahead, but I'm not chancing it! The distracted driver bylaw? I fortunately do not have $60 or $80 for an iPhone bill every month, so fucking around on facebook while driving is out of the question. Texting is sooooo 2004. Eating while driving? Kinda gross. Changine CDs is probably my biggest vice, but at leat I am not applying mascara. Which brings me to women drivers. Without getting myself into toooo much trouble, let's just say: Yowza.  Soccer Mom's are the worst. The stress of the job of being a working Mom nowadays makes them the most insane drivers on the road. Those SUVs are indestructible though, so even with the whole fandamly in the back, she can still afford to exceed posted speeding limits by 30%. Buckle up, kids.

Extremely poor driver education and an incredible degree of ease in attaining a license do not make matters any better. Newcomers to Canadian roadways, old people, and indeed 16 year old children would all benefit from an annual re-education of 2-axle vehicle operation every year, complete with a thorough practical government administered examination for 3 years after first earning their Class 5. And old people have to get off the roads at age 75, please. The exam must be rigorous enough that the people incapable of learning even the most fundamental and necessary safety aspects of driving will NOT be driving! After all, we all know that there will be more than enough of these people that pass the test, then totally disregard everything that they were told anyways. Let's at least make it hard for them to earn that privilege of fucking around on our roadways.

If there ever is a time where a person's unacceptable driving affects you directly, I encourage you to speak up and fight for what you know to be right! Enough with the apathy. And flipping the person off doesn't do much more good either. Leaving a note on the driver's windshield is at least something, but it's better if you can muster the balls to say what needs saying to their face. Politely? Politely. As possible.  True, we can all try and exemplify a more civilized, empathetic behaviour of others' undignified driving habits or techniques. But sometimes ENOUGH IS ENOUGH! (I think it's time to pull out the 9-iron from the back seat now).

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Moving On.

As globalization continues, fuel prices will increase. Eventually they will be so unconceivably high that only the privileged elite will be able to afford to drive. But please be rest-assured: the combustion of fossil fules will continue well into the 2050s. 

Urbanization will keep our streets crowded and more public transit infrastructure will go ahead REGARDLESS of how poorly it is implemented. Even the best of public transit infrastructure will not deter the privileged elite that can afford to drive their own person vehicles from driving.

And with every additional car on the road, we continue to kill our planet with every last tonne of CO2 that is emitted into the atmosphere. even if we start driving more fuel efficient vehicles, the likelihood of our old cars not being driven by somebody within the next 10 or 20 years is pretty low. In addition, "more fuel efficient cars" does not mean "no fuel" cars, and will resultedly continue to wreck havoc on the environment! This website indicates that about 50 MILLION cars are produced every year worldwide, with 600,000,000 currently coasting around city streets.  Our oil dependent lifestyle will only intensify with our desperation for newer, better, and even more "environmentally friendly" / technologically advanced cars. The production  alone of  millions of "zero" emission cars will certainly contribute to global warming in the production line! Anthropogenic climate change. This is unsustainable.

In the year 2050, disparity and inequality will run rampant, leaving our poor civilized society in shambles. Right now, I am reading Collapse by Jared Diamond who demonstrates how crucial it is for us to aknowledge the warning signs before it's too late. It's not a case of "probable" or "likely" or "mitigation" or "work-on-technology-to-save-us" It's a matter of the necessity of change. Now. Everywhere. Fast. 

The City of Edmonton is being laughed at for the $100M in creating & expanding cycling lanes over the next 10 years.  Maybe if we're lucky, some of those 50,000,000 cars produced annually will not make it to Edmonton, and there will be more room for those of us who enjoy riding a bike on those new paths, with having less fear of being mowed down by some F-250 Hemi Engine Pick Up Truck or Distracted Driver or Soccer Mom. At least for the 5 or 6 months that the weather allows for cycling up here on latitude 53.

Today is World Car-Free Day! And it is also the day that my cousin was killed in a traffic accident 15 years ago. She was 18. I miss you, Shantell.

ch50.2/7C.2

maybe it's all just a lot a bullshit

if you have read any noam chomsky or gwynne dyer maybe you think you are kinda cool.



if you have ever heard stephen lewis or archbishop tutu speak about AIDS in africa you might think (the enlightened privelged elite that you are) "wow, what the hell is going on in the world and why aren't our elected officials doing more to make things better?".

if you even slightly recognize the names thomas homer-dixon, jeffery sachs, naomi klein, henry thoreau, ronald wright, paul polak, john perkins, or even maybe our boy joseph stiglitz, you might be one of those people that even likes the idea of a better world, since this one here, now, is not meeting your standards/expectations. if any of these names stick out to you at all, then at the very least, you might just think: "wow, im pretty up to date with the pop-culture world of non-fiction and the worldly devastating situations" or else: "who cares about stupid reading by stupid know-it-all authors when there's so much work to be done & money to be made & beer to be drunk?" ... hang on, that reminds me, my beer's in the other room...

...canadian was 8 cans for $13 incl tax & dep. good deal. even if it's just canadian. (which is american).

with this whole recent "green" propaganda you are hearing about in the media, maybe you have heard of george monbiot, maude barlowe, andrew nikiforuk, tony clarke, tim flannery, marq devilliers, eric schlosser...

who cares?

maybe you put your energy into realizing the classics like catcher in the rye or great expectations or wuthering heights or stone angel or pride & prejudice or crime & punishment or gulliver's travels or 1984. those, after all, are the stories that inspire us to use our creative minds. and where would we be without creative minds?

and not to mention:

it takes a lot more investment and dedication to get through a >250p book, in comparison to giggling through an 87 minute will ferrell movie or watching the ever-repetitive evening news.


but this is your life. and your time here is running out minute at a time. i hope you are really having the time of your life. i hope you are getting everything accomplished that you ever dreamed you would, whether that be completing your Adam Sandler DVD collection, watching all of the X-Men movies on their first day in theaters, spending your days "gaming" - whatever that is, golfing - like the rich white men, or any other vice that gives you that feeling of fulfillment.


me? i'm just waiting. biding my time. barely breathing. doing what I can. dreaming of doing more. action without knowledge if futile, but sometimes knowledge can only be gained through action. the books are endless, after all. and aren't all these realms of writers i just mentioned nothing more than capitalists who are getting rich off of our inability to actually close their book, get off our ass and just start DOING SOMETHING?

especially when the weather's this damn' good.

i'm going to the driving range.

and having some more american canadian.

The Re-Inventing of Public Education

Chapter 45. The Re-inventing of Public Education

These blogs are way overdue. I blame my inability to pound out a few hundred words without sitting on the idea for a while of what I want to at least try to say. Not to mention that distractions are endless: hockey playoffs, my library book, facebook, and not necessarily in that order. But sometimes key current events force me into just forcing out the few semi-thought-out ideas I had scattering around in my head. This is what is happening now.

VueWeekly had an interesting article just come out in today's issue by social activist Ricardo Acuna. It clearly indicated acts of fascism and intolerance by the Albertan government, under the guise of ironically wanting to move forward and developing a long-term vision of what education in Alberta should look like in 20 years. This incoincidently happened to be an immediate follow-up to the passing of Bullshit Bill Number 44. I mean, hell! Even the slightest liberal-thinking young person would want to see this Bill fail terribly!! This could be seen with the 4756 members in the facebook group called "Students Against Bill 44" in comparison to the 61 members in the group called "Students For Bill 44". Something's up. HEY! Teacher! Leave Us Kids ALONE!!!

So. Now that we are all updated with the current events, let's go ahead and see what the hell I was thinking about regarding public education when I came up with my 45th topic of something I thought that could be turned into a blog .

#1 - Bill 44 proves we need a change in government.

Aside from the street response from the passing of this bill ("Alberta's always been seen as a bit of a redneck province"...), the vocal minorities sometimes do need to be heard. What good is a government that has no intention of letting the local gay & lesbian community have any degree of clout in the place they call home. Sheer intolerance. This is not the way to work towards a world with acceptance and peace. Even outside of this minority community, there was a whole whack of parents who agree that their kids need to be getting the entire curriculum so that they all come out with the information they need to make decisions for themselves. Education is not supposed to be limited.

So, it is important to understand that governments provide us with schools but we get the government we deserve (including strategic voting & apathetic non-voting). But more importantly we must understand that industry controls the government. Economies thrive on industry. And now since the economy is failing, we have the perfect opportunity to go all Obama-style and realize the potential in change! We can actually vote in a government with ideas on fresh technologies and genuine acceptance of all the minority groups that make Alberta interesting! We can realize the devastation of the air, water, people of oilsands production - despite how proportionately small they say it is!

#2 - Curriculum Enhancement: we can get more out of kids than just having them be able to regurgitate biology textbooks, take the derivative implicitly of a multi-variable equation, or memorize dates of wars.

This is actually a part of Engineer's Without Borders' goals once upon a time. We hoped to (and did) get more talk about "development" in the classrooms - something more than Grade 5 Social Studies, Post-War rebuilding policies in high school, or Sociology 269 @ the UofA. But the current curriculum must be re-vamped as we move farther into this 21st Century if we have a hope in hell of leading lives that will benefit all Albertans aka global citizens.

EWB focused primarily on aid dollars, water access, food subsidies, and fair trade. These 4 components have to be embedded into the Alberta curriculum at a very young age, just as RECYCLING was put into the classrooms when I was in grade 2.

So in addition to studying spelling, reading, the government, math, computers, christmas, the food guide, phys ed, sex ed, canadian politics, the holocaust; our curriculum needs to be more precise on taking on topics like:

the environment:
global warming, pollution, recycling, water scarcity

ethics & faith:
abortion, stem cells, evolution, islam, christianity (like, get them to read Life of Pi)

inequality & intolerance:
the apartheid, HIV/AIDS, globalization

I hadn't even touched a non-fiction book until I was well into my post-secondary. Why not get high school kids reading at least 1 fiction and 1 non-fiction book per semester through high school? That doesn't seem too hard.

#3 - Developing temperance of students is a lifelong skill we can work on developing even at school, even when the parents aren't there.

Restraint. Thinking. Patience and understanding that often less is more. Sometimes the easiest solution isn't the best. Sacrifice. I think that these things could be incorporated into day-to-day classroom stuff.

#4 - The teachers must actually want to teach (see my blog called 80 X 40)

So many times, a good government job is all that a person could really hope for in life. We need some way of paying the bills and paying into a pension so that the golden years will be all that we hoped they would be.

But I know of two people from my past. Let's call them Mr. C. and Miss B. Both are relatively new teachers. Miss C. counts her days until holidays and reaps the benefits of everything the teaching profession has to offer, with giving as little back as possible. On the other hand, Mr. C. hopes to be a principal one day, and is constantly putting in extra time with his class in sports-related activities, and also sits on committees that he doesn't get paid for to discuss item #2: Curriculum Enhancement! Kudos, Mr. C! Miss B? Why did you even bother going into teaching? Don't you realize that these kids need to see a passion in their role models - the shaper of their minds? You deserve an F. Your kids deserve better. So please, young people, don't go into teaching unless you are certain that you could convince your class that you are in fact there to create a positive influence in their lives. Maybe it's up to the government we elect, and the parents too, to ensure that we hold our teachers (with these compensating salaries) up to the standards we feel our children are entitled to!


Ricardo Acuna's article:
http://vueweekly.com/article.php?id=12135

Andrew Nikiforuk has a book: "School's Out: The Catastrophe in Public Education" available at the edmonton public library

Bad Habit: A Lesson on Driving Etiquette

Don't race the car next to you when waiting at a red light. You will only end up right next to them 2 blocks later. Don't start breaking for stop signs and red lights 3 meters before the stop line. Stop at stop signs - don't just slow down & keep going. Don't stop 3 feet into the crosswalk. If you see the Flashing Hand, don't step on it. Speeding up through intersections is not a good idea. Especially when there's a crosswalk in front of St. Richard's School or the University Hospital. Don't enter the far lane while making a turn. Make the turn then signal to get over. Signal. Always. That means put the damn' phone down. That includes texting. Don't tailgate and don't cut people off. That's just rude. Don't cross solid white lines in order to get to the turning lane a few seconds faster. Your time is not that important. Don't block intersections. Don't enter lanes when you know that the person in that lane is speeding so fast that they will have to RAM on the breaks to stop from hitting you. Enter the lane after they pass. Don't drive 80 when the speed limit's 50. Don't drive 140 when the speed limit's 100. Don't drive with your brights on in the middle of the city. It's not the least bit necessary. Don't let your 16 year old drive a 40 thousand dollar truck. Don't get into fits of rage about the redneck truck driver asshole that wouldn't ever read this blog. Don't drink & drive. I am pretty sure that after 2 drinks, 90% of people would be safer to Not Drive. Drive as little as possible. And when you do, don't kill animals. Don't kill people. Don't get killed. I like you.

Hey man you know I'm really okay

The gun in my hand will tell you the same

But when I'm in my car

Don't give me no crap

Cause the slightest thing

and I just might

snap

When I go driving I stay in my lane

But getting cut off makes me insane

I open the glove box

Reach inside

I'm gonna wreck this fuckers ride tonight

I guess I got a bad habit

Of blowin' away

Yeah I got a bad habit

And it aint goin away

Well they say the road's a dangerous place

If you flip me off

I'm the danger you'll face

You drive on my ass

Your foot's on the gas

And your next breath is your last

Drivers are rude

Such attitudes

But when I show my piece

Complaints cease

Somethings odd

I feel like I'm god

finish it yourself.

Testosterone Makes the World Go 'Round, Part 2: Jock-O-Rama!

Chapter 7, Part 2: Jock-O-Rama!

Edmonton is a sports city. Thanks to 5 Stanley Cups and 13 Grey Cups, there is good reason to be proud of living in such a city that can rival other great cities. The 2 New York teams only have 4 cups each, for example, and have been around for more than 30 years. We celebrate our athletes and tend to idolize them & associate them with one of the leading reasons which make this city sooo darn grand.

On a different level, high school football in the States is one of the most religious past times for All- American boys. By being a competitive mean challenger and champion, you can win the fame and respect from your community, state, and if things keep going well, your country. With this fame comes fortune. Despite any salary caps, society places such a high value on its athletic champions that they make up the most well-paid people on earth, next to CEOs and movie stars. In addition, overzealous sponsors offer millions of dollars to these guys to either hit a ball, tackle an opponent, or make the free throw.

So where is this going. Well I was really turned off of sports for a while because of how utterly stupid sports can be. The 2004/05 NHL lockout really just ticked me right off. I saw nothing but money-grabbing lazy uneducated oofs that had dog fight parties, injected steroids, took cheap shots at eachother (eg Bertuzzi and S. Stevens, and Zidane), robbed pawn shops (Mr. OJ), cheated on their wives, chewed bubblegum and scratched their balls. The inability for these "champions" to make sport legit and being better role models for our youth finally caught up with me. Even CFL'ers, despite being paid less than anyone in all of pro-sports, would run around celebrating like little girls after the TD. Why should these people be rewarded for acting so stupid? Isn't some modesty/humility an attractive quality at all anymore? How about integrity and morality?

I played hockey for 13 years so I definately know the thrill in the challenge, the win. As well as the empty hole left after losing the finals in Minor Hockey Week or Playoffs. I know how fun it is to act like a total idiot (have you met me?), whether it be getting into a fight or getting the over time winner. But this competitivism often goes too far. If you are just rubbing your opponent's nose in it, that's one thing, but it usually comes to more than that.

In these team sports, there is so much competition. There is the expectation to do well both within your own team and within your division/league. All-Star Role Model goaltender Patrick Roy was accused of encouraging his own goalie son to get into a fight last Spring, after his boy had been out-scored 7 to 1. There is pride and reputation on the line after all.

So what about it? Nobody got seriously hurt. True. But what about those times when things get totally out of control? Today's society has less restraint than I have ever seen before. You can get beat up for wearing the wrong team colours walking down a street at night if not careful, depending on the degree of belligerence/drunkeness. Pride. Toughness. Power. Some people neeeeed these things in order to have enough confidence to get through life. Back in Southern California in the early 80s, punks and jocks would get into fights all the time because of the different schools of thought. Without the ability to conquer another group of people, or team, how could a guy show that he has what it takes to be a an honorable leader. How can he prove to be a reasonable provider or care-giver for his family?

I used to be somewhat athletic. I ran & played hockey. I used to love performing when certain girls were in the crowd. I would get some of the best times in long distance races and would often be called up to play higher-tiered hockey. I was awesome. Without athletic ability, guys can be really limited as to ways they can attract members of the opposite sex. The one biggy is through myoozik. Piano lessons is often a starter step towards rock & roll stardom but if you aren't playing guitar or bass by highschool, usually that dream can get flushed away too. BRAINS and HUMOUR are the alternatives, if the athleticism and musical ability are not quite there. But neither of these are really quite the same either, especially if the person who you might be attracted to is the least bit athletic or musically inclined. Sure, sure, opposites attract. I mean, look at the (current) wives of Dennis Kucinich and Donald Trump. Yozwza! So I suppose if you have enough brains to make it through real estate, politics, or comedy - Jim Carrey is with Jenny McCarthy?!?! - then the power to you. But then again, a lot of the time, people just aren't that darn funny.

So sports. The easy, most obvious way to be able to hold your head high. Pound that chest. Try to be +500 on the season and don't shame your team by sleeping with your line mates wife. I'm going to the gym.

GO OILERS GO!!!

(...i'm not really going to the gym...)

Sex and Violence

Sure I may be unoriginal by just using song titles as blog titles. Maybe that even borders on copyright infringement. But let's just say for the sake of everyone that I have never even heard of the Exploited, let alone this song.

The City of Edmonton has recently discontinued allowing bars from selling cheap alcoholic beverages. The intention being that the higher prices will deter obnoxious and belligerent party-to-hard-ers from pouring as much of that liquid courage down their gullet. By having higher drink prices, there will be a lot less crime in the city. What Bull. The kids out there who already have it rough enough by having the stress of paying rent, passing school, and affording food are now being denied the opportunity to have a few hours of escape from a very demanding society.

Mayor Pinhead Mandel has this thing called the Curb the Violence campaign and feels that this is one of the key ways in stopping violence on Edmonton streets. Isn't most of the most serious violence coming from the police anyways? For every 3 Taser Deaths, I hear of one gang beating resulting in death. Maybe we should be taking the cops (and ridiculously overly priced police helicopter) off of the streets (and out of the skies).

Regardless of cheap drinks, psychotic angry youths out there will continue to cause a raucous. Yet still, our every day social drinkers that enjoyed dollar pints @ Filthy's or 50 cent hi-balls @ Squires are the ones that suffer. I mean, reallllly suffer. Without the same availabilty of affordable liquid courage, there will be less people hooking up and getting laid. And unless you are a complete idiot when it comes to hooking up, there shouldn't really be too much worry about getting any *ahem* undesirable results.

Lastly. For those of us who do drink and get loud, belligerent, and get into a fight ("(Alcohol) will help you pick a fight with someone twice your size" according to Brad), who cares! What harm has there been over the years with a couple of guys stepping outside and laying into eachother for a minute or two. If anything, that is a large part of how us males enjoy releasing our aggression. Isn't that a better way than taking it out on her? Or maybe taking it out on someone else by getting into a crash while on the roadways (in your truck, of course)? Bar fights resulting from excessive alcohol consumption have been around since the days of the Wild Wild West. I wouldn't be surprised if Edmonton was home to one of the original saloons where the very first bar brawls happened!


So keep on drinking, Edmonton. Fight and Screw. Let it all out. It is the long weekend after all.

Testosterone Makes the World Go 'Round - Part 1: Redneck Belligerence on the Roadways

Ch. 7

Efrem schulz's dad came up with a lot of his band's (death by stereo's) song titles. most of them really kick ass such as:

bet against me, you lose
i wouldn't piss in your ear if your brain was on fire
a one-legged man in an ass-kicking contest
holding 60 dollars on a burning bridge
emo holocaust
you can lead a man to reason, but you can't make him think
porno, sex, drugs, lies, money, and your local government
highschool was like boot camp for a desk job

and you guessed it:

testosterone makes the world go 'round

(get downloading)

Well guess what? it does. without it, the world would simply stop. well, it would be very VERY different, to say the least. for starters, i would like to suggest the following equation for an n number of pickup 4X4 trucks:

{Testosterone + n*(4 X 4) - a single shred of ( decency and respect for the law AND respect for others )} = 95% of the ignorant pig-headed and arrogant trucks on the road, t=0 to infinity

Why is this the case? Who do these men seriously think they are? These drivers are less than men. They are obviously sooo self-absorbed that they feel that they can drive how they want whenever they want wherever they want. What's more is that when not driving like a batouttahell, trucks can be found poorly parked in parking lots. If you are That Big and can't figure out how to park then get a new car or stay at home.

A few weeks ago, a story on global news reported that 87% of male drivers show aggressive tendencies on the roadways. (This is why I am relating back to men, not women - though some women in these big-ass trucks are just as guilty) 87% !!!! I don't know where they get there stats from, but my 95% figure is definately more representative.

A large part of the reasons behind why men drive their trucks like this is likely very deep-rooted: They are either proclaiming their authority through engine power over us lesser humans, they are showing off to their pretty lil' woman sitting next to them in the cab, hoping that revving the engine a bit more will earn him some tail later, or lastly he is compensating for something else and must speed, weave, tail, intimidate, pass immediately after making a turn, cross solid white lines...the list goes on, to make up for it.

So I race. I hope I don't die. I do what I can to get ahead of a big truck in my little Rio then slow right down to the speed limit. If I see him trying to pass, maybe I will change lanes so he can't. The Henday has become a dangerous place for me, and I know I had better stop letting this get to me. I mean, MADD has had little impact over the past 20 years because driver's attitudes have not changed enough. Well if a drinker's attitude is that hard to change, then how hard must it be to change the attitude of a redneck! (Not to say that the 2 are mutually exclusive).

One of the most intense things I've ever been involved with a truck for was simply walking my dog just down the street by my house. It was well over a year ago but I will never forget how after this asshole pulled out and in front of me while I was in the middle of crossing a relatively small intersection. I chased after him about 3 steps and WHACKED the side of his truck with my fist and shouted "Haven't you ever heard of pedestrian right-of-way!?" Ohhh I was mad. His window was down so he saw and looked at me, then sped off. The thing that worried me the most was having Cosmo with me because, well dogs are dogs, they don't know how idiots don't pay attention to pedestrians crossing at an intersection!

More recently, I was in a situation where I was about to change lanes. Shoulder check, signal, shoulder check, proceed. But somewhere between the second shoulder check and the proceeding part, some half-tonne came blazing out of nowhere - I had to swerve back towards my own lane and just carry on. After a while, I caught up to the guy that flew by me. He sees me coming so pretends to weave into my lane to get even for the scare I suppose I gave him. For some reason though, I think that a half-tonne would have less damage done to it travelling at 140kmh than my little car putzing down the Henday @ maybe 118.


Just tonight on my way home from The Dark Knight, I saw a multi-car collision including a Silverado. The other car was totalled. I wonder who was at fault? (not really). The damage that is caused by trucks is unnecessary. Lives could be saved.

Trucks are incredibly less fuel efficient than sedans, resulting in more emissions to be discharged per distance travelled. They are loud, diesel exhaust can be very irritating to some, and the arrogance that truck driver's carry truly makes me want to...rant in my blog.


Sidenote:

I haven't been driving very long, but I am a huge fans of those out there that can do what they love to do without being dependent on a vehicle. They are costly and they are hazardous when not used cautiously. And even when YOU use caution, it's always gonna be the other guy that get's ya. If you haven't minded not hauling stuff for the past few years, maybe you can hold off and not get that truck and count on someone else to haul your stuff for a few more years. Just a concept.