Re: Speed and speeding are different beasts (Letters, Jan. 30)
In response to “speed and speeding are two different, beasts” Dave Ferguson has missed the point of what he should be saying.
He seems to think the bulk of Saanich lives on side streets and not on main roads such as Mckenzie Avenue, and he’s implying he would prefer these side roads to have a reduced speed.
If you count the apartments and businesses on main streets, there’s far more people on main roads. That’s where there’s more traffic, more pedestrians, and unfortunately more accidents and injuries. There is much less chance of an accident on side roads given the same speed limit.
There is an increasing trend in nimbyism that succeeds in causing increased traffic congestion on main roads and quiet streets having more speed bumps than a shopping mall.
Somehow the local politicians gobble up the nimby concerns and get their way when the noise level on their street exceeds a sprinkler hose, or they give you the “slow down gesture” with their hands when you’re not speeding.
Usually the speeders in a residential area are the ones that live there. Ask any police detachment who the majority of speeders caught in a school zone are, and they will tell you it’s the parents taking their kids to that school.
The main roads where most people tend to speed on are our homes, where our kids live and play, where our pets and people spend time. We are the ones paying the price.
Crawford Walker
Central Saanich