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You Move Too Fast – Thoughts on Lower Speed Limits

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I remember taking my driver’s test a few years back. Okay, more than a few years back. It was in downtown Vancouver in the middle of rush hour and I was nervous. But I was managing to follow the rules and doing okay.

That is, until my instructor/tester told me to make a left turn from a busy thoroughfare onto a side street. I signaled a left turn and stopped, watching the oncoming traffic and looking for a gap. I saw one and decided to make my move.

As I turned the car, I realized there was an old guy walking across that side street. Slowly. I had to stop for him just as a swarm of traffic was coming towards me. I sat there, blocking the oncoming cars, and nervously waited.

Let’s just say the old guy made it to the other side. Of the street, I mean. But me, I failed my driver’s test, though I eventually took it again, and passed.

When I moved to Victoria a couple of years later, life was literally at a different speed. There were a lot of older drivers on the roads who were definitely not in any hurry. But I realize in hindsight they were probably just going the speed limit, or close to it, and I wasn’t used to that.

However, the population of Victoria has boomed in the last couple of decades, as has the amount of traffic that goes along with it. Now we might as well be driving in Vancouver.

The introduction of bike lanes changed the dynamic even more. These days, we have signal lights for pedestrians, signals for cars and for bikes. It takes a little practice to know which one you need to be watching.

Am I in my car, on my bike, or walking? Give me a minute…

The street we live on, which was very quiet when we first moved here, now has heavy traffic every day, especially during rush hour. One of our neighbours actually complained to the city about it.

They put in “traffic calming” measures at one point. That term makes me laugh…you see a lot more enraged drivers when they have to slow down or stop for oncoming traffic because of a boulevard jutting out. Traffic calming my foot.

Now don’t get me wrong. As a pedestrian, I encounter many nice, polite drivers who give me the right of way, and I always smile and wave thank you. But all it takes is one miserable person behind the wheel to ruin my day. Or I’ve ruined his, I suppose.

I want to suggest that these speeders are all young, impatient males, but I’m often surprised to see how many of them are women. And sometimes even “older” women. Everyone’s in such a hurry.

Which brings me to the recent reduction in speed limits in Victoria and Saanich. As a driver, I really have to work at keeping my speed at or just above the maximum, and I do try. But sometimes I’m on automatic (little pun there) and forget how fast I’m going.

When I am keeping to the speed limit, it’s almost a guarantee that I will eventually encounter a tailgater hovering right up behind me. A couple of times I’ve pulled over just to let the idiot pass so I don’t have to worry about being rear ended.

But if I’m truthful, I’m probably guilty of tailgating others here and there too. You know. When I’m the “older” woman in a hurry.

I am generally in favour of the lower speed limits, even if a lot of people aren’t paying any attention to them. There are just too many traffic accidents these days, and pedestrians and cyclists getting hit and even killed. Enough of that!

We’ve all got to slow down. You move too fast. (That might give you “older” folks an earworm.)

IJ

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Congratulations Grads! 50 Years Will Fly By

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I recently attended my 50th grad reunion (do me a favour and don’t do the math) and started thinking about all of this year’s young graduates going on to the next chapter of their lives. (You did the math, didn’t you…)

The reunion had a great turn out, with over 80 of us milling about trying to remember who the heck everyone else was. It’s funny how a face can change so much, but still hold some small, familiar quality. Thank goodness for name tags.

Speaking of which, I only wrote my first name on my name tag until someone pointed out that it wasn’t good enough. Duh. Old people need BOTH names to be able to remember. One of the organizers gave me another name tag with my full name. Only she spelled it “Jacksun”. Did someone miss English class?

We spent our time moving from one person to another, looking at each other and then down at our name tags, often gasping in delight at someone we suddenly recognized. It was great fun. We asked about each other’s lives, laughed at our ancient antics and cried for those we missed.

The conversation catch up included families, careers, moves from here to there. Retirement. Aches and pains. Some people talked too much, others not enough, just like in high school. I could see a lot of us moving into our familiar cliques. The sports people, the drama people. The nerds.

A very small group of our grads already had mobility or health issues, but I have to say we all looked pretty darn good for all that we’ve endured. And in 50 years, many of us have endured a lot.

I have to admit, I’ve attended every single grad reunion, but this was by far the most impressive. Not just because of the numbers, but because of the way we all understood the value of one another and appreciated each other in a way we haven’t before.

So what advice can I give all of you fresh-faced 2025 graduates holding your diplomas and wearing your graduation hats?

Well, first of all, your hat is called a mortarboard. I just learned that. So that’s lesson number one: you never stop learning! That’s why they call it “the school of life.”

Secondly, don’t lose touch with your friends. You’ll think to yourself that they’ll always be there. But stuff happens. Trust me.

And last but not least, one of the most important things in life is E.I. No, not employment insurance, although that might come in handy once or twice in your working life.

No, I’m talking about Emotional Intelligence. If you’re not quite sure what that is, emotional intelligence means understanding who you are, your emotions, and why you feel and act certain ways. Understanding yourself, and why you are who you are, may be the greatest lesson of all. There are books about it. If there’s a college or university or even a night school course including Emotional Intelligence as a subject, take it.

E.I. will carry you through the toughest times in your life. It will foster the good things in you: kindness, awareness, love and patience. Trust me on that one, too.

So to the Grads of ’25 from the Grad of ’75: You are brilliant. You’re going to do wonderful things and make this world a better place, I just know it.

Congratulations! Now don’t party TOO hard…

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Put The Ballot In The Box, Eh?

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I was in my early 20’s when someone I worked with convinced me to volunteer for a provincial party in an upcoming election. I had no idea what that really meant, but it sounded simple enough. Answer some phones, knock on a few doors.

So I went for it. A little bit of training as to how to approach people and what to say, and I was on my way.

I liked working in the campaign office, it was simple enough. The knocking on doors part was, well, a little more of an eye opener.

A lot of people weren’t home or didn’t answer, so I just pushed a leaflet through the mail slot. Easy. And of the ones who did answer the door, most were polite and at least took my leaflet.

But then there were the ones who had to, let’s just say “share” their ideas about the election and the candidates. There were a few who called me nasty names. And there were those who basically just slammed the door in my face. Yep, sometimes it’s rough out there for volunteers.

As I was growing up, whenever my my extended family got together for some occasion, the adult’s conversations would almost always centre around politics and current events. I can still hear the voices of my uncles rising and interjecting, not so much in anger, but maybe in small disagreement and definitely with passion.

One of my uncles ended up being an Associate Professor of Political Science at UBC, so it certainly ran in our blood.

That influence always encouraged me to vote, starting with the first election I was old enough to vote in. In my family there was nothing more important than filling out that ballot and stuffing it in the box. Even if you weren’t particularly inspired to do so, you just did it.

It almost feels like an understatement to say that this federal election has felt like no other in my lifetime. In our lifetimes. A couple of people I know have been volunteering for the first time ever. Here’s a toast to all of you election volunteers, by the way. You’re the best.

The advanced polls actually had line ups where I voted last Friday. I’ve never, ever seen that. There was a higher turnout for advanced voting than has ever been recorded in our country. That’s saying a lot.

Because of all of the unpredictable moves and threats from our neighbour to the south, suddenly Canada is united in a way that we’ve never experienced before. I see lots of people checking the labels in the grocery stores for Canadian products. Or Mexican or Italian. Anything but you-know-who.

“Elbows Up” t-shirts and “Proudly Made In Canada” signs are all over the place. The Canadian flag is flying everywhere while the American wine section in my local liquor store is proudly empty.

I’ve always felt the good fortune of being Canadian. Sure, we have our faults (sorry), and we don’t always agree. But that’s the whole point of being a democracy! We’re ALLOWED to disagree!

And, most importantly, we’re allowed to vote. Just imagine if we couldn’t do that.

There are a lot of other countries in the world rooting for us, supporting us, flying our flag. So on April 28th, as Canadians, all we have to do is one simple little thing: if you haven’t already done so, go and vote. Hop on this momentum and take it to the polls.

Because now, more than ever, it means everything.

Let’s put the ballot in the box, eh?

IJ