Think about about others when you’re behind the wheel

By Lethbridge Herald on January 16, 2025.

LEAVE IT TO BEEBER  – Al Beeber

Let’s have a little talk here about Whoop-Up Drive. And speeding. Actually, let’s talk about speed period in Lethbridge.

Anyone who commutes across the Oldman River inevitably during the year will be delayed due to a collision on Whoop-Up Drive, the Crowsnest Trail or even both.

Those delays can take a substantial amount of time to get through and when they occur in Lethbridge’s two brief daily versions of rush hour, that means hundreds of vehicles can be caught up because of misadventure, inattention, speed or other factors.

As we vehicle users in Lethbridge know, the posted speed limit on any street is often considered by drivers to be a mere suggestion. This can be particularly true on Whoop-Up and Scenic Drives where there seems to be two polar opposites of drivers – those who drive 10 to 20 km/h higher than the limits or those who crawl like a Jeep driver navigating boulders.

The happy medium seems to be those who drive slightly above limits. And often that’s what keeps traffic flowing here. And while the police don’t probably want to read this, that seems to work. For the most part.

But get severe winter weather with snow-covered or icy roads or sun glare at the right time of day there is a recipe for disaster in the making. That happened on Whoop-Up Drive on a Tuesday earlier this month when at least one crash in the westbound lanes created havoc for well more than an hour. I know because I was caught in it and had considered after a dentist visit taking the Crowsnest Trail back to the westside because of the potential for sun glare and melting snow on Whoop-Up to create chaos. And it did.

But even Scenic Drive can be a bit hairy with some drivers acting like they’re on a NASCAR road course and others imagining they’re on a scenic river boat cruise in Europe, enjoying the scenery or too scared to drive the speed limit even when roads are dry and the sky is clear.

These drivers create the woes which have some in the city calling for the construction of a third bridge to cross the Oldman. I used to be one of the proponents of such a bridge and still could be convinced of the value of one if city taxpayers weren’t expected to foot the incredible cost, which was brought up at city council early in the present group’s term. But for a third bridge to be built, it couldn’t be done simply for the convenience of westside residents. Those on the east side of the river would need a reason to cross as well.

In my mind, that means there would be a need for some type of commerce or industry developed in West Lethbridge to attract other residents as well as visitors to the city. Such development would also ease congestion on the two river crossings because potentially more residents of West Lethbridge would be able to work on their own side of the city.

But right now we don’t have that commerce or industry and untold numbers have to cross the Oldman River for work or to shop. Or to attend school.

And as long as residents do have to head east, there are going to be collisions and delays on Whoop-Up and the Crowsnest Trail due to accidents. I’ve heard some calling for a year-round 60 km/h speed limit on Whoop-Up which doesn’t seem a plausible solution. Vehicles need momentum to get up the hill and many of us have experienced the horror of losing traction as we follow a four-wheeled snail up that hill in either direction.

What we need perhaps is something that used to exist on Whoop-Up Drive and other major thoroughfares – photo radar, the so-called cash cow the Alberta government chose to eliminate from use in such instances.

Photo radar would provide a deterrent to the speed demons in Lethbridge, at least a financial one if they’re caught often enough on camera. But that option unfortunately isn’t available to LPS where it’s clearly needed. And definitely speed control is needed in school zones so LPS’s increased enforcement in those areas is definitely welcome.

But speed enforcement is needed elsewhere here, too. And it’s not just needed for speeders.

According to American advocacy group the National Motorists Association, slow drivers can also cause crashes, as well. This jibes with popular opinion and it makes sense.

“Federal and state studies have consistently shown that the drivers most likely to get into accidents in traffic are those travelling significantly below the average speed. According to an Institute of Transportation Engineers Study, those driving 10 mph slower than the prevailing speed are six times as likely to be involved in an accident. That means that if the average speed on an interstate is 70 mph, the person travelling at 60 mph is far more likely to be involved in an accident than someone going 70 or even 80 mph,” says the association.

But speeding is deadly as we all know.

According to the American National Highway Safety Traffic Administration in 2022, a total of 12,151 people in the U.S. died because of speeding drivers.

The solution from a pragmatic perspective would be to drive – as we’ve so often heard – at a speed the road and atmospheric conditions would dictate. If the snow is hammering down, why drive 120? If skies are clear and road surfaces dry, why put along at 40 in a 60 km/h zone?

All of us need to think about other road users when we’re driving. And we need to think about the potential impact our driving behaviours can have on all of us.