I am sitting safely and comfortably on my couch in my living room in St. John's as I write this editorial; however, on my way in here on Friday, I felt anything but safe or comfortable.
Driving into the city Friday afternoon during the precursor to hurricane Noel was nothing but pure hell. As I hit the highway, strong winds and heavy rain that was so strong it felt like it was going to break my windshield made driving conditions absolutely treacherous.
As I started to get closer and closer to the TCH I thought to myself that no matter the adverse weather conditions, I would be OK because I would be sure to be very, very careful.
Unfortunately, other motorists didn't have the same idea.
Usually when I drive on the highway, I stick close to the speed limit - OK, sometimes I go about 115 km/h or maybe a little tiny bit higher, but not much more beyond that.
But yesterday, with the way conditions were, I felt that driving the speed limit would do nothing but put my life and the life of other motorists in danger.
Yesterday I stayed close to 80 to 90 km/h the entire way into the city.
Sure, it took me a little longer to get in here, but I was in no big rush.
Obviously, other drivers on the highway had much more important things to do than me.
At a couple of points in my journey, as I glanced at the speedometer, my speed peaked at 100 km/h. When my speed went up, I quickly reduced it back to around 85 km/h or so.
As I was going 100, I was shocked to see car after car, whizzing by me, going speeds of up to 140 km/h.
On a day like yesterday, with the way the wind and rain was coming down, going that fast on the highway is nothing but irresponsible.
I expected to see some of these vehicles that were passing by me turned over in a ditch somewhere up ahead. Thankfully, I didn't see any accidents yesterday, but that doesn't mean that they didn't occur elsewhere on the TCH.
But not only can drivers bring harm upon themselves driving too fast on our highways, they can also bring harm to other innocent motorists.
It only takes one car driving too fast to go skidding about all over the highway, flying over a median and crashing into other vehicles.
The worse the weather, the slower you should drive. That's something that I was always taught in Driver's Ed. 101 - OK, well, something I learned from my dad, but who cares where I learned it, it's a good piece of advice that every motorist should follow!
As I saw all of the other cars whizzing by - while keeping my eyes focussed on the road ahead of course! - I thought, what's the big hurry?
I don't understand why some drivers always seem like they're in such a big rush. Don't they understand that no matter what time they reach the city, Tim Horton's will wait for them? Are people in that much of a hurry to get their coffee fix that they are willing to put their own lives and the lives of other innocent drivers at risk?
I'm not saying that coffee is the reason behind all of the fatal accidents that occur on the TCH, I'm merely saying that sometimes, people rush and drive too fast for really stupid reasons.
The other day, I passed by a sign that read: Speed kills.
That sign absolutely reads true and it should be taken as a very serious warning for every motorist.
When you are driving speeds that surpass 120 km/h - especially in the rain - how can you feel that you have absolute control over your vehicle?
If you have to stop abruptly because you see a moose or if you happen to hit loose gravel going at that speed, once you're spinning about all over the road, you may have quite a bit of trouble keeping control or your vehicle.
So remember, the next time you are travelling on the highway, if the weather is terrible or if there is sunshine and rainbows, drive with the utmost care and concern, and if you can't do this for yourself, at least do it for the sake of other motorists.
If it's raining and windy, take extreme caution and drive slower than you normally would. Pavement is quite different when it's wet than when it's dry.
And don't be in such a big hurry. Even if you reach your destination a half hour later than you had hoped, isn't it better to arrive alive than to arrive in a body-bag?
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