Just a grotesque stat from this weekend. I don't think roads were bad anywhere were they? Just looking at some of the accidents, I would assume stupidity played a serious role, such as the one near Two Hills that killed a bunch of people in a single vehicle rollover. No seatbelts or riding in the box of a pickup truck maybe?
Just a staggering loss of life over one weekend. Bring on the self driving cars.
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I spend a lot of time on the highways, though not during the winter. I'm stunned by the chances people take and the speeds they drive at. In particular, I'm often shocked by when people choose to pass on single lane highways.
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The gravel truck involved in the spruce grove accident was hauling to me.
I was talking with one of the first on scene, it was pretty horrific. Apparently the pickup truck involved ran a stop sign. 3 dead and the guy i was speaking with helped drag the lone survivor out of the pickup.
The driver of the dump truck is an older lady, about 50 or so, apparently she broke her back. Imagine the severity of the collision if the driver of the gravel truck broke her back..... Crazy.
I often get up in arms about the fear-mongering in our society, and how extreme risk-aversion has spoiled all kinds of once-common activities. But one area where I think we grossly underestimate risk is driving on the highway. Long weekends - especially the 'party' long weekends in the summer - are the worst. I refuse to go out on the highways with the family on those weekends.
And yeah, self-driving cars can't come soon enough.
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These secondary country roads are scary because every mile you have a chance for someone to be turning onto or crossing the road. Ive been on 628 a few times to go to work functions at the big bosses barn. People fly down that road at 130 all the time and it can get busy.
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I drove up to an accident where a lady tried passing single lane. Her car was ripped into absolute shreds, the driver side no longer existed as she had smashed head on into a semi, her dog was dead on the road.
A day or two later they found her in a river a few kilometers away clinging to a log disoriented and near death. One of the weirdest things ever. Drive safe my friends, don't be passing around corners.
One has to accept a certain trade-off between risk and freedom. Driving is key example of a certain situation where we prefer free to safer outcomes.
Really though the risk SHOULD be minimum. Following the rules, driving in a defensive manner and obeying posted signs reduce the frequency dramatically and could eliminate fatalities all together. The problem is that many drivers have not had proper/ enough training, and drive with total disregard for others. I drive about 50000 km a year on hiway, secondary, rural and lease roads, I could write for ever about what I've seen and been a part of.
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Crazy. I drove to Edmonton saturday and back sunday, and my GF and I commented on how quiet the highway was. Probably the quietest I have seen in years.
Yeesh. I have to drive to Banff tomorrow morning, too, and my winters don't go on until Thursday. Here's hoping it's not a skating rink with the thaw/freeze.
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I spend a lot of time on the highways, though not during the winter. I'm stunned by the chances people take and the speeds they drive at. In particular, I'm often shocked by when people choose to pass on single lane highways.
My job takes me on the road a lot too (not in Alberta, although I have driven Alberta highways extensively) and I too am shocked a the carelessness of many drivers. From my experience though, I've seen more carelessness in BC compared to Alberta with guys passing dangerously on single lane highways.
It's so sad that this happens. Especially to the innocent who was driving safely and was a victim of carelessness from another driver.
My job takes me on the road a lot too (not in Alberta, although I have driven Alberta highways extensively) and I too am shocked a the carelessness of many drivers. From my experience though, I've seen more carelessness in BC compared to Alberta with guys passing dangerously on single lane highways.
It's so sad that this happens. Especially to the innocent who was driving safely and was a victim of carelessness from another driver.
If you are talking about the Alaska Highway, then yes. If you are on that road at 4:00 pm in the middle of January, then you are seriously taking your own life in your hands. I had my mirror clipped by a semi-trailer two winters ago. I had to pull off to the side of the road and smoke about 39 cigarettes before I could start driving again.
This is human error, and is partially preventable through additional training, oversight (in the case of commercial vehicles), and stiff penalties. Autonomous cars are just a technologist pipe-dream at this point, and in reality will never be capable of driving in conditions outside of designated thoroughfares in big cities.
I was laid off a few years ago and drove for a living for a little while before going back to the desk. People just don't pay attention. I watched a semi run a minivan right into a guard rail. More near misses than I can count. Then there's the crazy speed that people go in zero visibility.
If you are talking about the Alaska Highway, then yes. If you are on that road at 4:00 pm in the middle of January, then you are seriously taking your own life in your hands. I had my mirror clipped by a semi-trailer two winters ago. I had to pull off to the side of the road and smoke about 39 cigarettes before I could start driving again.
This is human error, and is partially preventable through additional training, oversight (in the case of commercial vehicles), and stiff penalties. Autonomous cars are just a technologist pipe-dream at this point, and in reality will never be capable of driving in conditions outside of designated thoroughfares in big cities.
Not really.
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The transition is already beginning to happen. Elon Musk, Tesla Motor’s CEO, says that their 2015 models will be able to self-drive 90 percent of the time.1 And the major automakers aren’t far behind – according to Bloomberg News, GM’s 2017 models will feature “technology that takes control of steering, acceleration and braking at highway speeds of 70 miles per hour or in stop-and-go congested traffic.”2 Both Google3 and Tesla4 predict that fully-autonomous cars – what Musk describes as “true autonomous driving where you could literally get in the car, go to sleep and wake up at your destination” – will be available to the public by 2020.
Yeesh. I have to drive to Banff tomorrow morning, too, and my winters don't go on until Thursday. Here's hoping it's not a skating rink with the thaw/freeze.
Buy a floor jack and change your own tires! Saves time and money and gives you way more flexibility, less safety concern. I changed mine when I saw the snow this morning.
14 people killed on Alberta highways this weekend
