Sunnyside Road on Long Lake is not a super
highway. It is not even a secondary highway, nor even a
regional road. It is in fact a hilly winding treacherous city
street. At the same time it is a scenic enjoyable lake side
trail for walkers or drivers who have their heads screwed on
properly. Mind you, the walkers must be young and agile in
order to avoid getting clobbered by speeding drivers.
The speed limit on this treacherous, poorly
engineered city street is 50 km/hr as on all city streets. Why
then do so many drivers take the unnecessary risk of driving at
30 or 40 kilometres above the speed limit?
It appears there is a contagious addiction
here where even the school buses that should be the driving
role models, substantially exceed the speed limits and
jeopardize the safety of themselves and their young passengers
around these winding curves and up and down the many
hills.
Perhaps we need more speed signs or more
police surveillance. I use the road daily at least once and
have seen a police cruiser only twice in the last two
years.
What possesses drivers to drive as if they
were affected by road rage? Is it the thrill of a possible
devastating accident that drives them? Or is it the desire to
get to their destination a few seconds ahead of their estimated
time? Perhaps they are thrilled by scaring others out of their
wits.
Frank Petkovich
Sunnyside Road
Sudbury