I have driven from Bonnyville to Cold Lake countless number of times on Highway 28, and each time it seems like the other drivers get more and more daring.
The winter weather already decreases road conditions and increases the odds of collisions. Then on top of that, we have to deal with impatient drivers.
I took a trip earlier this month with the intent of going to Cold Lake to get some Christmas shopping out of the way.
I set off in the early afternoon, got onto Highway 28 and sped up to around 110 kilometers per hour. Everything was going fine until just past Ardmore, when a big half-ton truck decided it needed to pass four vehicles at once. I guess 110 km/h is a little to slow for him on a slick and snow covered road.
He got around three vehicles, including myself, but oncoming traffic was approaching fast and he had to force his way back into the right line. This move caused the vehicle in front of me to slam on the brakes. Immediately, I slammed on my brakes but began to slide; as I quickly approached the vehicle in front of me my only option to avoid an accident was to enter the ditch.
I directed my slide off the road, caught the snowy shoulder and slid down into a deep snowbank. A couple of phones calls, a $182 tow truck bill and 90 minutes later I was back at home in Bonnyville.
I am fine. My vehicle is fine. Overall I feel I avoided what could have been a lot worse.
I have ran the scenario over and over in my head and feel I did what had to be done.
The thing that bugs me is that I should have never been put into a situation where driving into the ditch is the best option.
People need to slow down and stop driving like lunatics.
I was lucky because on this same day, around this exact same time, a 57-year-old male was killed in a fatal collision out on Highway 659 and Range Road 442.
Hours later, a 22-year-old was killed in a three-vehicle collision out on Highway 55.
To get from Bonnyville to the city limits of Cold Lake South is roughly 42 kilometers. For that distance the difference between driving there at 110 km/h and maintaining 150 km/h the whole way is six minutes. That is it! Just six minutes!
How about leaving the house six minutes earlier and driving a safe speed? Then maybe some of these collisions that happen every year along snowy roads could be avoided.
Is getting to Cold Lake or Bonnyville six minutes sooner really worth risking your life and the lives of others?
I didn't think so.
