“I feel the need ... the need for speed.”
From Top Gun, the movie.
Having spent $14 billion on highways over the past decade, the provincial Liberal government is now wondering if it should let people apply a little more pressure on the pedal by embarking on a review of highway speed regulations.
Specifically, the province is wondering if speed limits should be increased on long stretches of highway between communities. It’s as if the province is now saying, “Hey, we just spent a wad of cash on asphalt ... now go have some fun.”
The real challenge is not in engineering highways so they are safer by widening shoulders, putting in passing lanes, installing plenty of information signs and the like.
The real challenge is the person behind the wheel of any vehicle.
Ask any police officer who patrols the province’s highways and the answer will be the same – accidents happen from people who think they can drive safely at any speed or by aggressive drivers who are absolutely convinced they need to be someplace 10 minutes faster.
Any review by the province needs to consider the human factor before unleashing higher speed limits.
In any event, the province seems to have written off northwestern B.C. Only two speed review meetings are scheduled for the north – one in Dawson Creek and the other in Prince George.