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Letter: Vancouver drivers need to chill out

Re: “Old complaint about buses surfaces on VPD website,” Oct. 16.
bus
A Courier reader says the complaints voiced in 2006 about bus drivers perfectly describes many of today's auto drivers. File photo Dan Toulgoet

To the editor:

Re: “Old complaint about buses surfaces on VPD website,” Oct. 16.

I enjoyed Mike Howell’s article on the past state of bus/auto interaction and admit that as a HandyDART driver it’s possible I have a smidgen of bias about traffic today.

I watch in wonder as the Coast Mountain drivers calmly and expertly weave those behemoths throughout our busy byways with incredibly few incidents per millions of annual kilometers. The  complaints voiced in 2006 about bus drivers perfectly describes many of today’s auto drivers.

I have driven or taxied in Hong Kong, Mexico City,  Sao Paulo and Los Angeles and personally award Vancouver the worst drivers bar none. Why? Utter disregard for road rules, other drivers, courtesy, safety and sanity.  When another driver uses their turn indicator as an indicator instead of a last-second confirmation, or actually stops at a stop sign behind the big white line (even when turning right!) or takes their turn in congestion, it surprises me so much I wish I could thank them, hug them for driving well, paying attention, forethought and patience for it seldom happens today.

Intolerant, quick-to-horn-honk divers who can honestly say they have never made one mistake in their driving history?  Go ahead and get purple, it’s your heart attack.  

Vancouver drivers need chill pills, to read or reread road rules, give others a little leeway and start to ask themselves  “can’t I give a stranger five seconds of my precious time?”.  

Just five seconds, people, and we might approach a “Civil City.”

Greg Lanyon,
Vancouver