Traffic

I recently drove south of Brandon at 10:00 AM. I was in no hurry and that was a good thing because I got behind a vehicle going 60 kms in an 80 kms speed zone. As we doodled along a big truck pulls right up behind me. I was hopeful he knew I was not the cause for the speed reduction. Shortly, the slow-moving vehicle turns, and I am now the lead car. I quickly arrived at the speed limit and perhaps even above. For others it must have looked like I was towing the truck behind me, he was so close. I was closing in on another set of vehicles going slow and I knew the truck behind me was not going to be happy. In a blink of an eye, out he goes to pass me, there is oncoming traffic so close I was slowing down to let him in. He's not done; he guns it and passes the car ahead of me as well. He then swoops in between that car and a semi. Now the semi appears to be pulling him he is right behind him. Thankfully, we finally hit the passing lane, and the truck is gone like a rocket. I hope the truck and his driver got safely wherever they were going and on time, clearly, he was running late. 

Morning traffic is crazy. I live close to two schools, one of which has a daycare. When school is in, the traffic circle is managed by young students, probably Grade 5 or 6. They are very efficient as they alternate by stopping the traffic and then the foot traffic. They do a great job and if they aren't there the foot traffic will stop the flow of traffic sometimes for 20 minutes. There is a large high school on the same street, and it presents its own issues. Many students have their own vehicle, or they are dropped off. It appears no one walks to school anymore.

The City of Brandon is doing road repairs, at random. As much as the roads need repairing and when are you going to do it than the summertime, it is a pain. It is like a maze trying to find your way to your destination. Of course, once you take the main traffic and put it the residential area it is simply craziness. There is no end to bad streets in the city, I am so glad to see them giving it a go. The interesting thing to me is, I believe some of the roads were just repaired and they are doing them again. I think the question here is, why are we unable to make a road that stands up to the traffic. Ripping the pavement up and putting it down again only lasts for a wee bit. When you aren't doing repairs, such as I, you of course have all of the answers as to how it should be done. 

There are several types of drivers, slow drivers which are often associated with older drivers. Cautious drivers which are driving exactly on the speed limit, they prepare to slow down long before the sign indicates they need to. Fast drivers which go whatever speed they want, where they want. Risky drivers dip and dive in and out of traffic and take huge risks to get where they are going in a short amount of time. On any given day, I may be all of those drivers, except risky. I am not a person to go from lane to lane. I am always in the proper lane for the next anticipated turn. It may not be for a very long distance, but I am ready when the turn arrives. No last-minute lane changes for me. I find the slow drivers the most frustrating. They not only slow the flow of traffic, but they are often driving down the middle of two lanes, they will go straight in a turning lane and rarely use their signal light. I do admire the courage of some of the elderly people that aren't daunted by driving in the city. Much like Mr. Magoo used to be. 

I live in a small city, I can't imagine living in a large city and trying to commute to work. Many people make a stop off at Tim's or McDonalds for coffee and/or breakfast as part of their journey. I don't profess to be the best driver, I like to think of myself as a confident driver. A person can get frustrated easily with traffic and delays. The bottom line is that there is no place for road rage or taking risks when driving. We all have to remind ourselves that arriving safely is what truly matters.