Another pedestrian killed on Canberra's roads - this time the one who is killed is visiting celebrity Christine Jacobs, a member of the Aboriginal stolen generation, who was to have given a speech to launch the National Day of Healing at Parliament House. She died on Tuesday night after being hit by a car in Deakin, as she went for a walk, not long after arriving on a flight from Perth.
Canberra drivers are appalling. And this year they have been getting noticeably worse by the month. Tailgating; cutting in and out of traffic, shouting abuse, and worst of all insisting on "obeying" the speed limit by exercising their "right" to drive on or above the limit whatever the road conditions.
Fellow pedestrians - we who occasionally risk life and limb to run on or near the roads are also pedestrians - it's about time we exercised our right to safe roads.
My plan is this - instead of driving at 5 to 15 kph above the speed limit like everybody else, we always drive at 5 to 15 kph below the limit. Always.
It will annoy the hell out of them, but it will also send a message to all those idiots who think the speed limit is a minimum limit.
I'm sorry, it also means some of you will have to leave home 10 minutes earlier to arrive at your destination.
But hey, save the aggression for your races. Drive safely; slowly; serenely. Put on soothing music. You might save the life of somebody's son or daughter.
And ignore rude comments. They already call us silly old buggers for running at our age; they may as well call us silly old buggers for obeying the road rules.
In both cases, they are the ones who will have the early heart attacks, not us.
.
Canberra drivers are appalling. And this year they have been getting noticeably worse by the month. Tailgating; cutting in and out of traffic, shouting abuse, and worst of all insisting on "obeying" the speed limit by exercising their "right" to drive on or above the limit whatever the road conditions.
Fellow pedestrians - we who occasionally risk life and limb to run on or near the roads are also pedestrians - it's about time we exercised our right to safe roads.
My plan is this - instead of driving at 5 to 15 kph above the speed limit like everybody else, we always drive at 5 to 15 kph below the limit. Always.
It will annoy the hell out of them, but it will also send a message to all those idiots who think the speed limit is a minimum limit.
I'm sorry, it also means some of you will have to leave home 10 minutes earlier to arrive at your destination.
But hey, save the aggression for your races. Drive safely; slowly; serenely. Put on soothing music. You might save the life of somebody's son or daughter.
And ignore rude comments. They already call us silly old buggers for running at our age; they may as well call us silly old buggers for obeying the road rules.
In both cases, they are the ones who will have the early heart attacks, not us.
.
