Now that we’re home safely, I’ll reflect on a 10,000-kilometre road trip from Victoria to London, Ont. In no particular order. here are a few of the general thoughts about driving in Canada and the U.S. in 2024.
Speed limits don’t seem to matter anymore. Often we think that speeding is a local problem. This trip proved otherwise. I like to proceed briskly on long trips and can find myself doing 5 to 8 kms over the limit, especially on long open stretches. Conservatively, I was passed by 90% of the other vehicles on the road, regardless of the speed limit and regardless of the road environment. I could probably count on two hands the number of times I had to pass a vehicle over the 10,000 km journey — not including times when I had to pass semi-trailers on hills.
But whatever the speed limit was: 75 mph in Idaho; 75 mph in North Dakota or; 80 mph in Montana I was being passed — regularly. For the record, 80 mph or 128 km/h is way too fast regardless of road or weather conditions, yet many darted by, often at 90 mph or more.
A 2018 study by engineers and doctors at the University of British Columbia showed that fatal crashes more than doubled here when B.C. raised its highway speed limits a few years ago. Nothing more to be said than that.
Following too closely is clearly the best buddy of speeding. I would love to enter into the mindset of people who get within a car length of someone’s rear bumper at 100 km/h or better, particularly when the car in front of them is just another vehicle at the end of a long line of vehicles in that lane. Not only is this roadway bullying and intimidation but it’s a recipe for carnage on a busy freeway because you have removed any possibility of being able to react quickly enough in an emergency.
On the I-90 Skyway in Chicago, a small black Toyota came within inches of the cars in front as it weaved through six lanes of heavy nighttime traffic which was moving at about 80 km/h. Catching up to us it swerved left to right over all six lanes to grab an exit at the last minute. The back window was emblazoned with the words: “Uber” and a phone number. Clearly the guy you want after you’ve pulled your bank heist.
Nearer to home on the Trans-Canada east of Vancouver, we were locked onto by a Tesla whose headlights disappeared from my rearview mirror because he was so close. It made a valiant effort to get past us, but as usual, each lane change put him further and further behind.
Other than maybe the 401 in Ontario, this stretch of road between Vancouver and Chilliwack is one of the worst in the country and making it worse was the start of the last big atmospheric river to roll into the province. Traffic and road conditions were as bad as they could be, except maybe for a blizzard whiteout.
The Tesla, undeterred by any of this, finally found daylight and whipped by at between 120 and 130 km/h. The rain was so heavy by this time that my windshield wipers were having trouble keeping up but I was still able to spot the “N” decal on the back of the Tesla. I hope this person makes it to full licence status but based on that performance I’m skeptical.
To me all this boils down to driving culture. Many people on the road seem to have accepted the abnormal and even the irrational as their standard for driving. Of course, human beings make mistakes all the time. However, based on this journey it’s time to re-double efforts at every single level to increase road safety awareness.
Glove Box: According to Janet Davidson and Michael Sweeney, in their book On the Move: Transportation and the American Story: “The interstate highway system wound a key and then released a perpetual motion machine.” That’s true. Returning from southern Washington state on a separate trip this past weekend, we were alerted to a massive mudslide blocking the northbound lanes of I-5 near Bellingham. Around 6 a.m., 2,000 cubic yards of debris flowed onto the freeway after a heavy overnight rainstorm. A semi-trailer was caught in the cascade as it flowed over the northbound lanes, pushing the centre concrete dividers into the southbound lanes. I expected the worst, which to a Vancouver Islander means not being able to make your ferry reservation. Fear not. We reached the slide site around 1 p.m. to find the road completely cleared, the bank stabilized and traffic flowing normally. America. Baseball, apple pie and perpetual motion freeways.
