The Booze Bus
On my last few trips here to WA, I've noticed that the state is absolutely militant about speeding. It's not uncommon to see 3-4 police radar traps on my 30 min. drive to work every day. Not that I think it's such a bad thing, it just seemed odd when I arrived to notice that everyone follows the limit precisely, and that the passing lane (the right side) is virtually unused. I can't imagine the rage that would ensue if Ottawa even tried to limit Queensway drivers to 120 km/h.
The other thing that the police do well, is the random "drink driving" road checks. I got funneled into one at 10 am last week, and before I had my window down, was blowing into one of their alcohol breath testers. After passing, I was then re-directed into a parking lot containing approximately 50-60 police officers, and told to park the car. Approximately 10 other cars had their hoods up, and were getting the full-on road safety check. After they spent some time passing my driver's licence around like it was a foreign object, they released me and my rental car. The whole procedure was quick and professional, but left me wondering, just how many people are they catching "drink driving" at 10 am? The road safety checks were likely more productive, nailing all the 20 year old "surfies" and their beat up "ute's" for being non-road worthy. I found it odd too that the passengers in the car can drink while driving, and that this wouldn't be deemed to have a negative influence on the driver. One area that does make sense is their mobile phone laws with respect to driving, and how you have to pull over onto the shoulder. Just this week, a 20 year old who killed two girls in a collision, was about to get a heavy sentence for checking his text messages while he collided into the victims car.
Universal the world over, is also every city's claim to have the "worst drivers in the world", as if this is some all-knowing truth that surely your fellow citizens are the most incompetent people alive. Winnipeg claims it, as does Ottawa, Montreal, Calgary etc., even Perth gets in on it. An article I read here in a music magazine this week, had a Massachusetts driver (Lou Barlow from Dinosaur Jr.) claiming the record. He said that Massachusetts drivers even had a well-known label, normally going by the name mass-holes.
The other thing that the police do well, is the random "drink driving" road checks. I got funneled into one at 10 am last week, and before I had my window down, was blowing into one of their alcohol breath testers. After passing, I was then re-directed into a parking lot containing approximately 50-60 police officers, and told to park the car. Approximately 10 other cars had their hoods up, and were getting the full-on road safety check. After they spent some time passing my driver's licence around like it was a foreign object, they released me and my rental car. The whole procedure was quick and professional, but left me wondering, just how many people are they catching "drink driving" at 10 am? The road safety checks were likely more productive, nailing all the 20 year old "surfies" and their beat up "ute's" for being non-road worthy. I found it odd too that the passengers in the car can drink while driving, and that this wouldn't be deemed to have a negative influence on the driver. One area that does make sense is their mobile phone laws with respect to driving, and how you have to pull over onto the shoulder. Just this week, a 20 year old who killed two girls in a collision, was about to get a heavy sentence for checking his text messages while he collided into the victims car.
Universal the world over, is also every city's claim to have the "worst drivers in the world", as if this is some all-knowing truth that surely your fellow citizens are the most incompetent people alive. Winnipeg claims it, as does Ottawa, Montreal, Calgary etc., even Perth gets in on it. An article I read here in a music magazine this week, had a Massachusetts driver (Lou Barlow from Dinosaur Jr.) claiming the record. He said that Massachusetts drivers even had a well-known label, normally going by the name mass-holes.
posted by Develo @ 9:09 PM
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