Re: “B.C. looks at ways to end Malahat delays,” Jan. 10.
The Malahat does not cause people to have accidents. People cause the accidents on the Malahat. To reform the Malahat — or worse, ram through a new highway — is expensive and futile. Educated people and curbing/redirecting growth are what’s needed.
Education is like a coin. Rewards help people learn.
Good grades and success are on one side. Bad grades and failure is the obverse.
Past governments embodied the ideology illustrated by pampering parents. “You can’t say No.” No red ink, no tests, pander to self-centredness. So police departments’ budgets were cut and police redirected to paperwork. The negative rewards for negative driving were erased.
So now, we save millions rendering many police “redundant,” but spend billions trying to make the infrastructure foolproof. Rid ourselves of foolishness instead. A proper education is much cheaper and better in the long run.
Our ideas are out of date. Why is traffic coming, going and growing? Two reasons: The jobs and (mega) shops are south, but affordable housing and quality of life are north.
If people are living north, but work and shop south and if you can’t get the people to the jobs and shops, take the jobs and (local, smaller) shops to the people. Simple. Problems eliminated. Figure out how.
We’ve got a couple decades to do it. Hasn’t the aversion to unlimited growth hit home yet? Stop the madness. We need fresh, long-term thinking and action.
Dean Helm
Victoria
