Bring up the words “traffic” and “Bonnyville” with anyone in town and you are almost guaranteed to initiate a rant about the quality of drivers who travel the area's roads.
Everyone has a story or two about an incident that has happened on a Bonnyville or MD road. Whether it was someone making a risky left turn, speeding by them in the right lane on Main Street or making a aggressive six-vehicle pass on the highway, drivers in region tend to be risky and aggressive.
Over the past few weeks, stats have come out to back this claim. Accidents in the region are on a “disturbing” upward trend and the number of tickets being dished out has almost doubled.
According to Brian McEvoy, Chief of the Bonnyville Regional Fire Association, the emergency service has gone from responding to 50 motor vehicle collisions in 2009 to 127 collisions in 2013. The incidents halfway through 2014 show the trend is still on the rise.
“Currently we are at almost 80 collisions for 2014,” said McEvoy. “Without projections, if the trend continues the way it is going based on the activity this year, we will approach 140 motor vehicle collisions that we will respond too. That trend is really disturbing to us.”
Keep in mind; these numbers don't represent all of the accidents that have happened in the region. These are just the serious collisions that need help from emergency services. Imagine how high the numbers would be if every accident could be counted. The numbers would be through the roof.
Collisions in the region are so frequent that McEvoy says it is the number one thing they respond to. It is higher than the number of structure fires they respond to, and smoke alarm investigations that require their attention.
With that said, it is no surprise that the number of tickets being issued by MD Peace Officers is also higher than ever before.
From June 1 to the middle of August, officers in the MD issued 915 traffic tickets. That is 319 more than the 596 tickets the handed out during the same period of time in 2013.
“We have never had a summer quite like this one,” said Chris Garner, Director of Public Safety. “It was just a really, crazy busy summer for us. The traffic on our roads, I can't compare it to the past, it is just way too busy. There is not a section of MD road that doesn't get oilfield traffic.”
In my opinion, the biggest issue is the unbelievably aggressive drivers I have personally witnessed in this region. I had never seen someone make a six-vehicle pass until I came out to Alberta. Going down Highway 28, it seems like it doesn't matter how many vehicles are ahead of the pack, there are people impatient enough to make a lengthy and risky pass.
One thing aggressive drivers need to know is that there aren't really saving much time. If you were to drive 100 km/h from Bonnyville to Cold Lake it would take you roughly 31 minutes. If you were to maintain 130 km/h over that stretch it would take about 24 minutes. Speeding saves you roughly seven minutes and risks the lives of everyone else on the road.
My advice, leave a few minutes earlier and you won't have to drive like a mad man. Take your time. Aggressive driving is making Bonnyville roads dangerous for us all.
