Editor:
Re: Road safety takes little effort, March 9 letters.
I just reread the letter from Steve Barnes. Yes, he is right that signals are important, but he is wrong in that the drivers should let others know their intention.
These drivers don’t want anyone to know their intention, Canadian or non-Canadian, such as making illegal turns against signage or that they just want to get in front of you. They will do it with no respect for you, the law or themselves and their passengers.
I am a professional driver and have always – unless a dangerous situation happens that I don’t have time to signal – used my signal.
I do notice in the Vancouver area and lots of B.C. areas, a signal light has an adverse effect on someone’s gas pedal, turn your signal on and the other vehicles speed up. I once spent about two-plus kilometres in the left lane driving my bus, after passing a slower vehicle and waited till I am safely ahead of it to go back to the right lane, but drivers just whipped into the right lane between me and the vehicle I passed, giving me the finger and blowing their horn, even though I had my right-turn signal on.
Also, most people just follow what other drivers do, and that includes the police, who are not out often enough to get after these unsafe drivers and other dangerous, speeding drivers. I have even noticed that police cars will even stop for someone making a U-turn on Robson, Georgia, etc, till they complete the turn and not do anything about it, amongst other law-breaking driving laws that seem unimportant to the police.
After all, distracted driving is more hazardous as needing to have your seatbelt on. I guess so that should you rear-end someone or go off the road, due to speed, you will live to do it again.
Marienus de Jong, Surrey