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Writer says please follow traffic laws

Lack of courtesy is the least of the problems
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Dear editor,

To all those who openly support the families of the people who were injured and killed from Humboldt, Saskatchewan. Millions of dollars have been raised. Hockey sticks, candles and flowers show our national grief for this terrible accident. I can’t imagine how the parents, families and friends can cope with this loss both now and in the future.

I believe every one of us has feelings of sadness and loss for these young athletes, the bus driver and their coaches and trainers. I also believe that if we would do anything to change the outcome, we would do so.

Every day when I drive home west on Highway 13, at least one vehicle runs a stop sign and turns out in front of me as though I am not even on the road. On Thursday, after the situation in Humboldt, a semi trailer milk truck coasted through the Calmar turnoff right in front of me. Had I not been vigilant and slammed on my brakes, my vehicle would have hit the truck. Then it tuned left into a farmyard. And even worse – two other vehicles ran the stop sign behind the semi, slid into the outside lane and then cut me off (and the two vehicles behind me) a few hundred meters down the road.

There is a farm on Hwy#13 that flies the Canadian flag now at half-mast. I presume this is to honor the hockey players who died. There is a person there who drives a white pickup. One morning last week, someone drove that pickup truck down the driveway, looked at me on Hwy 13, and gunned the motor half way down the driveway and cut in front of me …and gave me the finger.

Have we learned anything from this senseless tragedy? How many seconds would it take to come to a complete stop and respect the drivers on the road? How many of us would willingly take the chance of running a stop sign and hitting say – a school bus? And watch 16 people die? Wouldn’t we do everything we could to go back in time and stop ourselves from doing that one stupid thing that cost all those lives?

Well we can. We can all not do that stupid thing. Every one of us can spare the 20 seconds it takes to stop at an intersection and look both ways. If there is anything we can do to honor and respect the Humboldt athletes and their families – stop at every single stop sign for the rest of your life.

Let’s be safe - we are all friends and neighbors.

Connie Maitland

Pigeon Lake