Port Alberni has the worst drivers in the entire world. Other places may have more aggressive drivers, but Port Alberni drivers 1) are not situationally aware of traffic situations around them, and 2) don't seem to realise that there *are* other drivers, let alone pedestrians, on the road. And they are getting worse.
I am seeing increasing numbers of Port Alberni drivers who are not willing to stop for pedestrians. At all. I am not only the only actual pedestrian in Port Alberni, but I notice, when crossing a street with other Port Alberni residents (who are temporarily out of their cars) that I am the most *aggressive* pedestrian, and the *only* pedestrian who is not afraid of the traffic. Most of the pedestrians, or, rather, the people in Port Alberni who are temporarily not in their cars, and walking across the street, will try and pick a very large gap in the traffic, and won't even *attempt* to cross the street if there is any traffic on the road.
I tend to walk *right* down the road (mostly because the sidewalks, in the condition they are in, are dangerous), but I do try to avoid impeding traffic. So I will, if there is any traffic nearby, walk on the side of the road, out of the travelled lanes. If I am crossing the street in the middle of a block I will try to pick a time when there is no traffic, or at least no traffic nearby. But if I am crossing the street at an intersection, I figure that there is no point in waiting for the traffic to actually stop. For one thing, it never *will* stop. At the intersection I have the right of way, whether there is a marked crosswalk or not. So I will cross, even if I am impeding the traffic in order to do so. I'm not stupid about it. Most times PA drivers are not travelling fast enough to actually kill me outright if they hit me. And I don't necessarily want to be in a situation where I (they) break my leg, and am unable to walk for a number of months. So I will not cross the street when a driver shows absolutely no intention of slowing down.
A little while back, out on Beaver Creek Road, taking out broom, I was crossing this street with a pile of Scotch Broom in my hands. At an intersection there was a whole line of drivers who obviously had no intention of even slowing down, despite the fact that they were passing within less than a metre of me. On another occasion, again not in dark clothing, not at night, dressed in highly visible clothes, and in an actual marked crosswalk, I again had a situation where a driver obviously had no intention of even slowing down, let alone stopping.
So, as I say, Port Alberni drivers are getting even worse than they have been. It's not that they didn't notice me in either situation. They definitely saw me. I had eye contact with the drivers in all cases, and they obviously had no intention of stopping.
And, recently, I found out something else. I had been labouring under the misapprehension that it was only pedestrians that Port Alberni drivers are trying to kill. But, no! It's other drivers, as well! I was turning left, onto Redford, from Anderson, and someone on Redford was turning left onto Anderson. And that driver motioned to me to pull out and turn left. This would have been kind, were it not for the fact that there were *four* cars barrelling down on the intersection from the east, along Redford. The guy motioning me to pull out *must* have seen them! He was *facing* them! (It was rather difficult for *me* to see that they were there, because of cars parked along Redford, and the extremely wide sidewalks at that location.) If I had taken his advice/instruction, there would have been quite an unholy traffic mess.
Yup, Port Alberni's bad drivers are getting even worse.
I missed a perfectly good opportunity to die today. Well, perhaps not perfectly good. By the time she finally swerved, less than twenty feet from me, she was already slowing down, so I probably wouldn't have died. Just been badly maimed, making my already wretched life even worse.
There was no other traffic on the road, which is possibly fortunate for her. No, it was a clear road, with her speeding through the Dip, and me crossing 10th. In a marked crosswalk. In broad daylight. Wearing a gray t-shirt, but with a large pink emblem on it, and bold white lettering on it. And, of course, wearing my feathers.
I saw her, of course, at least two blocks away. As I was crossing 10th, I realized, from the sound, that she was not slowing down. At all. So, eventually, I turned to pay attention to the car. She finally decided to serve, about twenty feet away. And she did stop. About another seventy feet beyond the crosswalk, and walked back, to where I still watching this whole performance, to apologize. I'm sure the apology was heartfelt, although I'm not quite sure what good it was supposed to do.
I don't hope that she has a bad day. She obviously has a job where she is helping people. I hope that she is able to help people properly today. But I hope that she considers the possibility of killing someone the next time she gets behind the wheel of the car.
There is a concept; known to the military, law enforcement, and security people: situational awareness. This is being aware of your situation. For the most part, we think of it in terms of being aware of dangers and risks to oneself. But, for drivers, and particular for the drivers of Port Alberni, situational awareness is probably very important, and certainly in short supply. In the case of the drivers of Port Alberni, it might more profitably be turned to the idea of being aware of the situation through which you are driving. Are there other cars on the road? Are there pedestrians on the road? Is there anything else in the area where you are driving that you, driving a two ton, black (or possibly dark blue), Mitsubishi SUV, could do damage to?
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