To the Editor:
On Sept. 12, at around 8:55 p.m., I was proceeding north along Highway 391 on my way home from shopping in Thompson. I had my sons and my nephew in my vehicle with me; as we were heavily laden with groceries I was not able to get my vehicle up to 85 kilometres per hour until I crested the top of the hill by the golf course. This section of road, up to the airport turnoff, is double lined which (to most people) would indicate no passing. The only exception to this law would be emergency vehicles with their lights and/or siren activated
Apparently, to the driver of a yellow Ford Ranger extended cab truck, licence plate EHC 684, it was far more important that they get to their destination (which was the Calm Air maintenance building on North Hangar Road) than to concern themselves with the safety and well-being of other users of the roadway. This vehicle proceeded to zoom past me (passing on an uphill slope in a no passing zone) where the speed zones changes to 'maximum 90 km/h' and speed to its destination. Perhaps the driver of the vehicle, or one of the passengers, was late for work or something. I don't know. What I do know is that regardless of the reasons, this in no way entitles them to jeopardize my life and the life of my family members.
If this person works for Calm Air maintenance, which I infer because that was their destination, I hope to hell that they don't treat the maintenance of airplanes with the same callous disregard they do for other users of the road (as we witnessed being demonstrated). The rules of the road are there for a reason; perhaps the driver of this yellow Ford Ranger has never heard of the idea that "for every rule some poor boy got hurt" (Don Freed, 100 Miles from the album Out on the Plains). The maximum speed limit and no passing lines are there for the safety of all road users; we can't pick and choose the laws we want to follow. Perhaps the owner of this vehicle needs to reread their Driver's Licence Handbook to familiarize themselves with conduct on roadways. If the driver of this vehicle wants to end their life by reckless actions and foolhardy decisions, leave me and all the other innocent road users out of the equation.
Don Thomas
Nelson House
