I wish to offer my condolences to the Langford family’s loss of their RCMP member, a mother of two. It is sad to read of people that get killed so senselessly due to what are called ‘traffic accidents.’ And I feel I need to voice an observation overdue about our community.
When I read this story and noted the picture of the police cruiser that appears to have been T-boned, I felt another pang of sorrow. I was T-boned many years ago and was lucky to the extreme to come out of that nearly unscathed. I’ve been nearly T-boned three times in this community and only survived by the grace of approaching slowly and looking each way several times.
My wife and I and family and friends have noticed a disturbing trend in the past few years in Parksville Qualicum Beach. People running yellow-red lights are common along the Island Highway.
Other communities we visit, we do not see this extent of dangerous driving. It is one of those traffic things that is preventable.
A contributing factor exists that I passed along to our RCMP and hope that the local Ministry of Transportation or Emcon will correct very soon. I read a court case several years ago where a judge sided with the driver fighting a red-light-running incident because it was noted that the local traffic lights were all inconsistent with the time delay and triggering effect when a car activated the sensors.
Apparently there is supposed to be a minimum three-second delay before the lights begin to trigger.
I’ve noticed Emcon crews the past three years ‘calibrating’ the lights along the Island Highway and these lights will usually now trigger instantly when no one has been on the sensors for a short time prior. There is no safety delay and we feel that this may be contributing to drivers punching on the gas pedal to make that light, rather than slamming on the brakes because there is no safe time factor to gauge the approach and the drivers’ manual also advises new drivers and is worth the read for all drivers.
No safe time is incorporated into some of our traffic lights (Temple Street and the new Wembley Mall intersection, for example).
These intersections are notoriously too fast on the trigger without that necessary safety delay.
I implore the authorities responsible to re-calibrate these intersections to all comply with a standard safety-time and install a left-turn-advance on Drew Roads and Bennett Road intersections.
Peter BoltenParksville