After a near-death experience in our car earlier this week, I yearned for a return to Ontario - the place where driving remains a sane enterprise. We wondered if Canadian highways were heavily policed? Even though we did not see a single highway police car between Sault Ste Marie and Thunder Bay Are Canadians simply more civil than drivers in the states? It is a prejudice I freely confess I have had for years, ever since first traveling in Canada as young adults. Or are Canadian traffic laws that different than those in this country?
The highway across the eastern and northern shores of Lake Superior is part of the Trans Canada Highway system. It is a busy road and one of only two options to cross western Ontario. Yet there was never a sense we were taking our lives in our hands by being on this highway.No harassment by other drivers (can't imagine anyone giving the one-finger salute). No one trying to get somewhere yesterday.Road construction must be one of the seasons in Ontario (as it is here), but there was never any sense of it not being managed well.
The highway is a two lane road with a centre passing lane every few miles. Knowing one would have the opportunity to pass slower vehicles made it unnecessary (and foolish) to pass on hills and curves. There was no one exceeding the speed limit. Nor was there any tailgating or intimidation of other drivers. No tailgating. No semis breathing down your neck. No car drivers who believe that being right on your tail will somehow make you drive faster - or pull over on the narrow shoulder so that they might whiz by and preempt the road for themselves.
I thought it might be wise to be more informed about Canadian traffic rules. since this trip will not be the last we visit Canada.Thanks to the Internet, I found the Rules of the Road in Ontario Highway Traffic Act. It defines the proper distance between vehicles as "reasonable and prudent having due regard for the speed of the vehicle and the traffic on and the conditions of the highway " (R.S.O. 1990, c. H.8, s. 158 (1). Reasonable and prudent? Try telling that to Minnesota drivers!
When we crossed the international border into Minnesota, we traveled down the North Shore of Lake Superior, one of my all-time favorite roads. And the highway games began immediately. No question we were now in another country. Speeding, tailgating, poor judgement as to passing - and intimidation. You would think we were doing the Daytona Five Hundred. Please, take me back to Ontario!
The near-death experience? We were driving on a freeway, which narrowed to one lane - slowing the traffic down to a crawl. We were fine - until Clem looked in the rear-view mirror. A car was speeding towards us and the driver lost control. He (happened to been a he) apparently hadn't thought the highway signs included him - or he never saw them. He skidded, sliding down the highway sideways first one way and then another.. He regained control a few feet from us. If he hadn't, we would have been dead.
Perhaps US drivers have played too many video games and have lost the ability to discern between a car chase game and real life.
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