It’s black out. In an hour or so when I’ve finished this column, I’ll be on the road hoping like hell that the driver coming down the road towards me is sober and fully engaged in the driving process.
Lately it seems that every commute to Sechelt is an opportunity to behold yet another transgression on the road.
For instance, last Thursday when I was on my way here at 6:20 a.m. to make sure your paper was as free of typos as possible, some moronic marvel decided it would be a great idea to turn left inches in front of me. Fortunately both my brakes and my bladder held and I managed to get here reasonably intact.
Now I ask you — what kind of idiot would do that? My sneaking suspicion is that I was seeing the tail end of an all-night party, that the driver was either drunk or high or both.
If you read our weekly police report you can’t help but notice the number of times the cops pull some inebriated driver off the road. They’re everywhere. On the road in front of the pub, fumbling for their keys and finally running over the curb in their haste to get home before they pass out. On the highway where they can’t quite make up their mind just where the yellow line is. They’re even, and this is truly disgusting, in the car taking their kids home from a party down the street.
I remember vividly 30 years ago getting a phone call from my mom telling me that my cousin in Calgary had been killed by a drunk driver. Her husband was in shock, her youngest son in a coma and the oldest boy hurt and in hospital. I remember my heartbroken uncle sobbing so hard I was afraid he would be the next one to go. I remember the anger and helplessness we all felt.
A few years ago, I recall seeing the face of beautiful little girl on TV, her life snuffed out by a woman who didn’t have the decency to call a cab or a sober driver after consuming far too many glasses of wine. I’m not sure which would be worse — being that little girl’s parents or waking up to the fact that your action had taken a life.
B.C. has some of the strictest laws in the country around drunk driving. I’m glad about that. Unfortunately, the police can’t be everywhere. We’re coming up to the big party season of the year, and inevitably there will be the drivers who get behind the wheel with no regard for their fellow citizens.
In memory of my lovely Linda and little Alexa, make it a point to plan your trip home before you leave for your party. Don’t be the fool turning left into traffic.
