Rant

Well, not mine really, but in this case I would like to join in.
Ever since I came to Canada, I noticed that some drivers, despite strict rules in traffic, decide to follow them in their own way. Now, like in every country in the world, if you want to have a driving license, you need to pass a test, both written and driving. And as far as I know, anyone who would dare to turn on intersection without signaling, would fail it, no exception. But once some drivers get their license, they seem to forget some of the rules and one of them is using a signal when they turn or change the lane or do anything else that might interfere with the path of other drivers or pedestrians.
I am not a big driver myself, San is the one who does most of the driving while I am sitting beside her with my camera ready, in case some wildlife appears or we see something else interesting and worth of photographing. But then we would be behind someone who would not turn the signal on when changing lanes and when you are driving over 100 kmph (70 mph) this is not something you would like to see. Especially if that person is moving in front of you. That kind of behavior is so common that it really annoys me a lot. During summer I go to work on my bicycle and believe me, I have seen everything. I’ve been pushed out of a road by big trucks twice, some drivers would show me finger when I try to change the lanes and some of them would decide not to take a turn right in front of me so I would need to slam the brakes and pray to stay alive. Let’s take a look at the statistics: In British Columbia there were 260,000 reported traffic accidents in 2013, 54,000 with casualties, 260 of them fatal. I couldn’t find how many of them were caused by not using a signal light but the number is probably stunning. Most of my readers know me, and they know I was born and raised in Serbia where many drivers are having weird habits in driving and where many people died because in past police didn’t force the traffic rules (things are changing, though and with a new law, number of accidents dropped). But I don’t remember ever seeing someone turning in intersection without signaling. I mean, literally. It is a life threatening situation and no one wants to die. I’ve seen some people (and some of my friends, too) driving impaired or drunk but even they would remember to signal. How can anyone forget that!?
I am not good at ranting so I should better leave that to professionals 😀 Rick Mercer, a famous Canadian entertainer, in his previous “Rick Mercer Report” TV show made this problem a main Rant for this week.
Brief and sharp.