Mandatory Speed Limiters and Bill 42

On December 21^st, Bill 42 got the Royal Sanction to become a law. This means that the Minister, or the successor, can by decree, put the various article in application. I still have hope that one day our ministers will have their nomination based on their qualifications and not only their gender to please some pressure groups.

At my testimony to the Transportation and Environnement Commission in Quebec, I did get for you the confirmation that the Minister would not impose mandatory speed limiters until all Canadian Provinces have the same article of law on the books. It is now to you to inform about the impact such restriction may have to your elected officials in your provinces so your governments don’t kneel down in front of the Canadian Trucking Alliance and their demand. After all, the main reason is to level the playing field to their advantage and repress competition from within Canada and from the outside.

For the rest of Bill 42, one more time we witnessed the lack of backbone at it’s best. When it comes to alcohol levels, other then the fines which are now doubled, it is still left to a judge to give a ridiculous jail time mostly done during weekends or reduced for good behaviour. Nothing really serious for repeat offenders unless, they have killed while driving under the influence. Even the Minister did drop out of the bill the reduction to ,05 of the legal limit of ,08. In my book, this was only a tax in disguise. Putting the rule like the rest of Canada would be a good idea.

Mandatory use of snow tires is a good point. I can not as a Professional Driver oppose to that. If a fatality accident is avoided because a four wheeler lost it in front of a truck, or mine, I agree on the measure. However, I find that keeping these tires on until April 1^st is a little late for Antique or Muscle car owners that would like to take for a spin their prised vehicle on Easter weekend. This only applies to taxis and cars so, I will be able to take my bike for a ride on March 1^st weather permitting.

The ban on hand held phones totally misses the point by not including text messaging devices. If holding and talking on the phone is a distraction and a cause of accident, reading or writing a text message is even more. In other words, if your Blackberry is not used as a phone, you can read or write message while going off the road or rear ending another vehicle. That is if you don’t want to stop in a secure area to do so.

For the new drivers, this will now include drivers over 25 years of age. Even if they have achieved a certain maturity, they still lack the experience of driving. All the reasons are good to ask for a permit at a later age.

Finally the high speed drivers have not been left out. If only the Minister of Public Safety would put on his pants and force to limit any tolerance on speeding and on delinquents like in Ontario, our roads would be safer.

Maybe we should ask the government, because we don’t do anything here any more by ourselves, the construction of drag strips and tracks for street racers?

If we wait after them, and all the studies of the BAPE, the spotted bullfrog protection committees, and, to say like a radio person I know, the one-legged-croatian-lesbian groups, this will not happen in a short term. We are still waiting for completion of A-30 around Montreal for over 30 years…