Maybe lightning really can strike twice.
Driving back to Niagara-on-the-Lake this past Saturday about 10:30 p.m., motoring along Highway 55 between the airport and Virgil, I was extra vigilant as my wife sat in the backseat, our 13-month-old granddaughter sound asleep beside her.
Exactly a week earlier, on the same stretch of road, I’d had to dodge an oncoming car that was passing a long line of other vehicles in the conga line leaving town after another day in paradise.
I didn’t expect to see it happen again, but, unfortunately, the traffic gods (or goons?) had other ideas. What are the odds? And what’s the hurry?
That first driver, headlights excessively bright, was using our side of the road to zoom past several other cars — except there seemed to be no room for him to get back in to the proper lane in time.
Clearly seeing two pairs of headlights coming your way when you’re on a two-lane road is more than a little disconcerting.
When this guy first pulled out, it appeared he had less than 500 feet of asphalt before it would be too late. And on a road with dozens of cars moving quickly, it could have been disastrous. Is the hurry worth it?
When drivers are hurtling toward each other at 80 km/h (or more), each vehicle covers almost 75 feet per second. So, seconds actually do count and there’s little time to avoid calamity. So, even at 1,000 feet apart, the two will meet in the middle in six to seven seconds.
Thank goodness for the one-metre-wide paved shoulders on that section of Highway 55. I hit the brakes and moved to the right (as I think the car behind me did, though there really wasn’t time to check).
With the middle of the road clear, my car and the oncoming one missed each other by a second or two and he went on his merry way while we continued toward Old Town.
It all happened so quickly, there was only time to react. No time to think or analyze.
The previous Saturday, things seemed even closer to disaster, the closing speed felt faster, when the outbound driver straddled the centre line as he squeezed past our car. I think a few choice words were uttered by yours truly.
Yes, for the most part outside the urban areas, Highway 55 allows vehicles to pass (when it is safe to do so, as the statute suggests), and these drivers in a huge hurry presumably were visitors trying to get home after a long day at the Shaw or Strawberry Festival or touring wine country etc.
I write this fully knowing that I might sound like yet another “whine country” complainer wondering if we’re not all headed to hell in a proverbial handcart.
But locals are not immune to lousy driving practices.
In between these two incidents, last Tuesday afternoon there was the (thankfully empty) school bus that opted for an illegal “Idaho Stop” as its driver rolled through the stop sign and turned left onto 55 from the vicinity of the NOTL Public Library. Really? Why the hurry?
A few kilometres down the road the bus joined the line outside Crossroads Public School to pick up kids at the end of the day.
No big deal, perhaps, but the driver’s unnecessary hastiness caused cars to hit the brakes. Hope that never happens when the bus is full.
I’ve been doing a lot more driving around Niagara and the GTA of late, and anecdotally at least, am seeing a lot more head-shaking driving decisions. Whether it’s lane jumpers, high-speed tailgaters or mid-lining motorcyclists, everyone seems in a hurry.
Then there are the drivers with blindingly bright headlights (sometimes they’ve mistakenly activated high beams) or the crazy number of people driving at night with no lights, only “marker” lights or just daytime running lights.
On the roads around NOTL, the problems are not just caused by tourists or visitors or whatever you choose to label the folks who keep our town’s economy humming.
The speeding and erratic driving we’ve all witnessed (or been guilty of) on our rural concessions and lines — and even on the narrow laneways of Chautauqua, where I happen to live — is largely locals who know their way around.
The tourists are the ones moving at the speed limit (or less) as they take in the sights.
But seriously, what’s the hurry? Barring an emergency, is shaving a few seconds or even several minutes off your trip really worth the risk?
Can’t we all just relax a bit and enjoy life, while we can?
kevin@niagaranow.com
