Re: “Highway speed limit hikes linked to more crashes, fatalities: study,” Oct. 10.
It’s obvious from the article about Dr. Jeff Brubacher that he is a slow driver and has a vested interest in letting no one drive any faster than he can. As a driver of nearly 60 years’ experience and having gone over 200 km/h more times than he has had hot dinners, I can say that you treat everything with the respect it is due, even your vehicle’s speed. The speed won’t kill you, the sudden stop will.
A speed of 120 km/h isn’t all that fast. In Europe, motorways are set at 130 km/h, and some U.S. states have limits of 135 km/h. So if these speeds are deemed safe enough there, what’s wrong with B.C. drivers?
Perhaps the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure should look at its much-vaunted graduated-licensing policy because it is turning out (after paying the appropriate fees) drivers who shouldn’t be on the road, and keeping people on the roads who shouldn’t be there.
Mark Twain said: “There are lies, damnable lies and then there are statistics.” Brubacher talked about the increased accidents on the Malahat after its speed limit was increased. The speed limit on the Malahat hasn’t been increased since it was slashed in 1974. It has even been reduced further since then. Is that further reduction the cause of the additional crashes?
The roads are better, the cars are infinitely better than they should be at the prices they cost. Let’s improve the drivers rather than suppress all of them.
Paul Whitworth
Victoria
