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Behind-the-Wheel

What to do when no one will solve your problem

Getting things done

What happened the last time you decided to deal with a road safety problem?

Were you successful in your quest? Were your views taken for information purposes? Did you get sucked into the whirlpool of "that's not my job,” or worse, were you ignored completely?

As taxpayers, we expect the appropriate level of government, or the police, to solve them for us. That is one of their jobs and we pay them to do that.

How would you rate their service in this regard, and why do you rate it that way?

For the most part, if the situation is an emergency, it receives high priority for attention and resolution. A washed out highway or a serious collision will be dealt with immediately by the appropriate resources.

A dangerous driver or malfunctioning traffic signal may receive slightly less attention depending on the level of concern, location and resources available.

But what happens when you have a complaint about a nuisance or a potential problem? If you are lucky, it will be responded to within a reasonable amount of time. If not, your wishes could either be ignored or even actively discouraged. So, what to do?

I am sometimes asked for help through my DriveSmartBC website.

One example might be useful to guide others, so I made a special effort to involve myself and document it.

The opportunity came from Kelowna. The gentleman who contacted me lived in a gated community that was accessed from a busy road. He felt a left turn lane was needed to allow for safe turns into the community but the City of Kelowna felt otherwise.

I started an e-mail correspondence with the man to define the problem, find a suitable solution and promote it for resolution. It quickly became apparent the perception of the problem was the speed of vehicles on the road and the only solution he would consider was the turn lane.

After a half dozen volleys, he decided I wasn't on his side and he would look elsewhere for a solution.

The other side of that coin is a community action group in the Hillside-Quadra area of Victoria. Not only does it react to problems, it actively considers pending changes to the community and provides considered feedback to city council in an effort to positively influence those changes.

That is a good example of what a community can do—both to solve and prevent road safety problems.

Like anything else in life, you need to look at your particular road safety issue and decide whether you want to deal with it and how much time and effort you want to invest.

If the problem is not that important to you, then report and forget is probably the appropriate choice.

If you do decide to take action, there is no shortage of information to use to your advantage today. A bit of time with your favourite search engine may find an issue exactly like yours, what was done to solve it and maybe even contact information for those involved. Reach out and ask for help. Persist in your quest. Learn about the issue. Document your observations. Enlist others. Contact authorities, write letters to the editor, blog, post on social media. Be thoughtful and reasonable. Respect others.

It may seem like water wearing away stone, but you can make a difference if you really want to.

This article is written by or on behalf of an outsourced columnist and does not necessarily reflect the views of Castanet.



More Behind the Wheel articles

About the Author

Tim Schewe is a retired constable with many years of traffic law enforcement experience. He has been writing his column for most of the 20 years of his service in the RCMP.

The column was 'The Beat Goes On' in Fort St. John, 'Traffic Tips' in the South Okanagan and now 'Behind the Wheel' on Vancouver Island and here on Castanet.net.

Schewe retired from the force in January of 2006, but the column has become a habit, and continues.

To comment, please email

To learn more, visit DriveSmartBC



The views expressed are strictly those of the author and not necessarily those of Castanet. Castanet does not warrant the contents.

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