24 - Friday, November 17, 1989 - North Shore News

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How do we get better drivers on the road?

LAST TUESDAY night, I had the opportunity to
appear with five other panelists on the CBC Tele-
vision program Forum. The subject was traffic

The moderator was an-
chorman Kevin Evans.

In his introduction to the
Evans

and what we could do about
it. The audience in studio 42
was full of opinions about
both.

safety, and each of us had a different angle.

Keith Morgan, iraffic col-
umnist for the Province
talked about the growing
nightmare of congestion,
frustration and mayhem on
Lower Mainland roads.
Staff Sergeant Chris Offer
of the Vancouver Police
shared his observations from
years of attending accident
scenes.

Richard Dickson, regional
director of Young Drivers of
Canada, provided his phi-
losophy on driver training

Prepare
for driving
with kids

AUTUMN'S BEAUTIFUL
colors are a natural draw to
the eutdoors.

With a little planning and
an eye to safety, a motoring
trip with your children can
be an enjoyable and relaxing
way to see the countryside.

A thorough cleaning of
your car’s interior is a good
place to start. Nobody wants
to sit for hours on end in
cluttered surroundings. In-
volving young children in a
car-cleaning bee will help
redirect some of: their excess
energy and pre-trip excite-
ment.

At the same time, it'll set
the standard for cleanliness
throughout the journey: if
they've helped clean it, they
aren’t as likely to get it dirty.

We tend to stuff all sorts
of stray objects under the
front seat — old rags, ice
scrapers, and worst of all,
bottles and cans. Anyone
who’s ever had a bottle or
pop can roll under the brake
pedal realizes the importance
of keeping the area beneath
the front seat absolutely
clear of debris.

Since you practically live
in your car on day trips like
this, it’s easy to accumulate
garbage. Small, easy-to-
reach plastic garbage bags in
front and back seats are just
the thing to keep the car neat
and tidy. They can be emp-
tied or discarded when you
stop — another ideal chore
for young travellers.

As weli as the obvious
safety benefit, seat belts
prevent children from boun-
cing around while you trav-
el. That means they present
less of a distraction for the
driver, who might otherwise
become irritable, tired and
inattentive.

You'll get the most out of
your family outing if you’re
able to plan activities ahead
of time. One way to do that
is to obtain travel maps and
brochures from your auto
club or tourist bureau sever-
al wecks before you leave.

They come with plenty of
information on points of in-
terest, eating places, etc.
That way you can schedule
meals, fill-ups, exercise and
refreshment breaks along the
way.

and education. Keith God-
frey related some of the in-
formation he gathered
around the province as
chairman of B.C.’s new
Traffic Safety Directorate.

Dr. Bill Mercer, director
of CounterAttack, spoke of
his research into the types of
people who were more likely
to be involved in an acci-
dent. I was there to offer
ICBC’s perspective and to
describe the $1 bdillicn im-
pact of auto insurance
claims on the pocket books
of B.C. motorists.

hour-long event,

Ken Hardie
INSURANCE
CORPORATION

OF SRITISH COUUMESA

The hour didn’t so much
fly by as it evaporated.
The one. recurring issue

stated that we were there to
find out why our B.C. driv-
ing record was so abysmal,

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was driver education and
training. Many expressed the
feeling that a driver's licence
is tow easy to get in B.C.,
and that once a person gets
one, he is virtually exempt
from any further evaluation
for the rest of his days.

One after another,
members of the audience
spoke of the selfish, careless
attitudes of others on the
road. One burly trucker who
wheels over 40 tons of trac-
tor trailer around the Lowes
Mainland every day, spoke
of the small “ricer rockets’’
this term) that swoop in
front of him and then slow
down. Some days, he books
off early — his nerves are
shot.

I would like to say that we

solved all the problems in
that hour, and that the solu-
tions will be saving lives on
B.C. streets tomorrow. But
that, unfortunately, didn’t
happen.

So to you, we extend an
invitation. Watch for the
program, CBC Forum,
Saturday, November 25 at 9
p.m. Then, let's hear your
ideas.

What do we do to get bet-
ter drivers on our zoads?
What should we do to get
some bad attitudes turned
around? Do you have an an-
swer to our billion dollar
question?

Write Auto Topics, North
Shore News, 1139 Lonsdale
Avenue, North Vancouver,
B.C. V7M 2H4.

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