{"id":1749,"date":"2009-12-02T11:30:44","date_gmt":"2009-12-02T15:30:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/spacingatlantic.ca\/?p=1749"},"modified":"2013-01-21T04:49:21","modified_gmt":"2013-01-21T08:49:21","slug":"trusting-traffic-the-fantasy-and-fatality-of-pei-drivers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/atlantic\/2009\/12\/02\/trusting-traffic-the-fantasy-and-fatality-of-pei-drivers\/","title":{"rendered":"Trusting Traffic: The Fantasy and Fatality of PEI Drivers"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

CHARLOTTETOWN <\/strong>– I’ve got trust issues.\u00a0 Years of training and indoctrination, which were to have prepared me to be an active participant in my personal locomotion, have been shattered in recent months.\u00a0 It wasn’t intentional. \u00a0Far from it, in fact.\u00a0 In spite of my sometimes rabble-rousing tendencies, I prefer a world with structure, a framework, some sort of shared agreement of civility.\u00a0 In retrospect, and to quote Cool Hand Luke<\/a>, “what we have here is failure to communicate.”<\/p>\n

The mobility of society is based on a sacred oath that simply states that everyone will follow the same set of common rules at all times so, baring tragedy, we know what to expect when we interact with one another.\u00a0 Whether as a pedestrian, a cyclist, a motorist, or some sort of Segway-powered anomaly, the rules are common and understood.\u00a0 It is that oath that has been broken in my new provincial home.<\/p>\n

Not everyone understands this sacred oath.\u00a0 It wasn’t until 2004 that I was able to articulate the reality of this covenant myself, a revelation that I owe to Hans Monderman<\/a>, rest his soul.\u00a0 A chance encounter with an article in Wired!<\/a> magazine would realign my perspective on traffic, and our interactions with it, forever.\u00a0 It is, with that knowledge, that I realize Monderman would never have survived his famous backward stroll into traffic had he tried such an outlandish stunt on the roads of Charlottetown instead of his more gentle Holland.\u00a0 When Monderman redesigned an intersection in the town of Drachten<\/a> (coincidentally with a population of 40,000, much like Charlottetown) he deviated so violently from the cloistered world of signs and signals that aim to protect those motorized and those not, that people thought him more a mad scientist than master traffic planner.\u00a0 In my eyes though, he was brilliant!<\/p>\n

Here are the hard facts<\/a>.\u00a0 In 2006 Canada had 8.9 traffic fatalities per 100,000 residents.\u00a0 Contrast that to PEI’s 18.8 fatalities per 100,000 residents, the second highest per capita rate in the country.\u00a0 When we only look at the licensed drivers, that rate jumps to 26.8 per 100,000, though still in second place, trailing the Yukon<\/strong><\/span>.\u00a0 Not to be outdone though, Islanders jump to the number one spot with an even 25 fatalities per billion vehicle kilometers.\u00a0 In every instance, Islanders are being killed off at a rate that is at least double, if not almost triple, the rates for the rest of Canada.<\/p>\n

I have had the pleasure, and sometimes terror, of driving in some of the most congested and frantic metropolises in North America.\u00a0 Toronto, Detroit, New York, Las Vegas and Los Angeles are all on my driving resume.\u00a0 In each area one quickly becomes attuned to the pulse of the <\/strong>traffic. \u00a0Whether <\/strong>frantic and restless like Detroit, or fevered yet deadlocked like Toronto, each flow has a pulse of its own.\u00a0 It the absence of consistency that throws an entire system into disarray.<\/p>\n

I should make it abundantly clear that I love my adopted hometown.\u00a0 It is those things that drive me the most crazy about PEI that make it so endearing.\u00a0 This is, of course, with one notable exception\u2014the drivers.\u00a0 Never before have I encountered such a haphazard, irreverent and irresponsible subset of citizens in such a confined space.\u00a0 I wish I could say that I was being overly harsh, that it’s <\/strong>a broad generalization based on the behaviour of a few miscreant motorists, but the tendency to flaunt the rules of the road with wanton abandon is pervasive and problematic.\u00a0 That is not to say that all Islanders are poor drivers.\u00a0 PEI simply has a higher percentage of poor drivers as demonstrated by our fatality statistics.<\/p>\n

This brings us back to this issue of trust that I have developed since relocating to the Island 18-months ago.\u00a0 We were, at first, mesmerized by the quaint style of motoring.\u00a0 Stopping at cross-walks, or to let a loitering pedestrian cross mid-block, seemed all too surreal to our Ontario-trained senses.<\/p>\n

In the past 18 months I have experienced drivers running red lights simply because they didn’t feel like waiting any longer, traffic be damned!\u00a0 I have witnessed countless cars, trucks, utility vehicles and even school buses run the stop sign at the three-way intersection that doubles as a school bus stop for my children \u2014 even as we all stood at the side of the road, sans sidewalks, and watched in amazement.\u00a0 I have watched drivers swerve around left-turning vehicles, using the designated cycling lanes as impromptu passing lanes.\u00a0 I have even watched,<\/strong> much to my dismay, a distracted driver run a cyclist off the road without so much as a tap of the brakes. (Check out this handy-dandy Google Map<\/a> for locations of these events, and then add your own!)<\/p>\n

Let’s get back to that issue of trust.\u00a0 Island drivers are their own worst enemy.\u00a0 Their conscious <\/strong>\u2014<\/strong> <\/strong>and it has to be a conscious choice to drive full-tilt through a three-way intersection with vehicles, pedestrians, or both, waiting for their turn to proceed \u2014 <\/strong>endangers both drivers and their fellow citizens.\u00a0 More importantly, it violates that trust that we are instilled with from a young age that people stop at stop signs, red lights, and for emergency vehicles.\u00a0 It is that violation of trust that is so maddening and disappointing.<\/p>\n

I am, by nature, a fairly trusting fellow.\u00a0 I like to believe that people are inherently good, that there is hope in the world, and that peace really does have a chance.\u00a0 Those ideals make the reality that some Islanders turn into raving lunatics when behind the wheel of an automobile so much harder to tolerate and accept.\u00a0 I don’t have an answer to the problem of the auto superiority complex that consumes so many drivers here, but something has to change before PEI overtakes the Yukon in traffic fatalities.\u00a0 Perhaps it is the words of a fellow Islander that haunt me to the point of breaking: when complaining about the disregard for the stop signs in my neighbourhood this well-meaning Islander responded, “Maybe we should just take the signs down so people don’t have to run them anymore.”\u00a0 Yeah, I’ve got trust issues.<\/p>\n

photo by Jerry “Woody”<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

CHARLOTTETOWN – I’ve got trust issues.\u00a0 Years of training and indoctrination, which were to have prepared me to be an active participant in my personal locomotion, have been shattered in recent months.\u00a0 It wasn’t intentional. \u00a0Far from it, in fact.\u00a0 In spite of my sometimes rabble-rousing tendencies, I prefer a world with structure, a framework,Continue reading “Trusting Traffic: The Fantasy and Fatality of PEI Drivers”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8015,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[343,37,341,5874],"tags":[490,355,1146,580,1141,1142,1140,516,1147,1139,786,1143,1148,646,689,457,384,381,1144,348,1145],"class_list":["post-1749","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-curiosities","category-spacing","category-urban-design","category-walking","tag-canada","tag-charlottetown","tag-cool-hand-luke","tag-cyclist","tag-detroit","tag-distracted-driver","tag-drachten","tag-google","tag-hans-monderman","tag-las-vegas","tag-los-angeles","tag-mad-scientist","tag-netherlands","tag-new-york","tag-north-america","tag-ontario","tag-pedestrians","tag-toronto","tag-traffic-planner","tag-transportation","tag-yukon"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nTrusting Traffic: The Fantasy and Fatality of PEI Drivers - Spacing Atlantic<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/atlantic\/2009\/12\/02\/trusting-traffic-the-fantasy-and-fatality-of-pei-drivers\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Trusting Traffic: The Fantasy and Fatality of PEI Drivers - Spacing Atlantic\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"CHARLOTTETOWN – I’ve got trust issues.\u00a0 Years of training and indoctrination, which were to have prepared me to be an active participant in my personal locomotion, have been shattered in recent months.\u00a0 It wasn’t intentional. \u00a0Far from it, in fact.\u00a0 In spite of my sometimes rabble-rousing tendencies, I prefer a world with structure, a framework,Continue reading "Trusting Traffic: The Fantasy and Fatality of PEI Drivers"\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/atlantic\/2009\/12\/02\/trusting-traffic-the-fantasy-and-fatality-of-pei-drivers\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Spacing Atlantic\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2009-12-02T15:30:44+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2013-01-21T08:49:21+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/farm4.static.flickr.com\/3145\/2803705535_cd274d62bb_b.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Joshua Biggley\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@Spacing\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Spacing\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Joshua Biggley\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/atlantic\/2009\/12\/02\/trusting-traffic-the-fantasy-and-fatality-of-pei-drivers\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/atlantic\/2009\/12\/02\/trusting-traffic-the-fantasy-and-fatality-of-pei-drivers\/\",\"name\":\"Trusting Traffic: The Fantasy and Fatality of PEI Drivers - Spacing Atlantic\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/atlantic\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/atlantic\/2009\/12\/02\/trusting-traffic-the-fantasy-and-fatality-of-pei-drivers\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/atlantic\/2009\/12\/02\/trusting-traffic-the-fantasy-and-fatality-of-pei-drivers\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\/\/farm4.static.flickr.com\/3145\/2803705535_cd274d62bb_b.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2009-12-02T15:30:44+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2013-01-21T08:49:21+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/atlantic\/#\/schema\/person\/5fd5642578fdf31ef3459d458bd2447a\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/atlantic\/2009\/12\/02\/trusting-traffic-the-fantasy-and-fatality-of-pei-drivers\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/atlantic\/2009\/12\/02\/trusting-traffic-the-fantasy-and-fatality-of-pei-drivers\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/atlantic\/2009\/12\/02\/trusting-traffic-the-fantasy-and-fatality-of-pei-drivers\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/farm4.static.flickr.com\/3145\/2803705535_cd274d62bb_b.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"http:\/\/farm4.static.flickr.com\/3145\/2803705535_cd274d62bb_b.jpg\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/atlantic\/2009\/12\/02\/trusting-traffic-the-fantasy-and-fatality-of-pei-drivers\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/atlantic\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Trusting Traffic: The Fantasy and Fatality of PEI Drivers\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/atlantic\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/atlantic\/\",\"name\":\"Spacing Atlantic\",\"description\":\"Canadian Urbanism Uncovered | Halifax, St. John's, Charlottetown, Fredericton, Saint John, Moncton, Sydney, Miramichi, Truro, Architecture, Urban Design, Public Transit, City Hall, Parks, Walking, Bikes, Streetscape, History, Waterfront, Maps, Public Spaces\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/atlantic\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/atlantic\/#\/schema\/person\/5fd5642578fdf31ef3459d458bd2447a\",\"name\":\"Joshua Biggley\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/atlantic\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6b26103da6443ed0c4fd88ea8d635d32?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6b26103da6443ed0c4fd88ea8d635d32?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Joshua Biggley\"},\"description\":\"Joshua Biggley is an IT consultant by day and freelance writer by night. He lives in Charlottetown, PEI with his wife, four children, eight heritage hens, and a chocolate lab named Daisy. An Islander-by-choice, he is an out-spoken advocate for urban agriculture, food security, self-sufficiency, traffic planning and anything else that strikes his fancy.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/atlantic\/author\/joshuabiggley\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Trusting Traffic: The Fantasy and Fatality of PEI Drivers - Spacing Atlantic","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/atlantic\/2009\/12\/02\/trusting-traffic-the-fantasy-and-fatality-of-pei-drivers\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Trusting Traffic: The Fantasy and Fatality of PEI Drivers - Spacing Atlantic","og_description":"CHARLOTTETOWN – I’ve got trust issues.\u00a0 Years of training and indoctrination, which were to have prepared me to be an active participant in my personal locomotion, have been shattered in recent months.\u00a0 It wasn’t intentional. \u00a0Far from it, in fact.\u00a0 In spite of my sometimes rabble-rousing tendencies, I prefer a world with structure, a framework,Continue reading \"Trusting Traffic: The Fantasy and Fatality of PEI Drivers\"","og_url":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/atlantic\/2009\/12\/02\/trusting-traffic-the-fantasy-and-fatality-of-pei-drivers\/","og_site_name":"Spacing Atlantic","article_published_time":"2009-12-02T15:30:44+00:00","article_modified_time":"2013-01-21T08:49:21+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/farm4.static.flickr.com\/3145\/2803705535_cd274d62bb_b.jpg","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"author":"Joshua Biggley","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@Spacing","twitter_site":"@Spacing","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Joshua Biggley","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/atlantic\/2009\/12\/02\/trusting-traffic-the-fantasy-and-fatality-of-pei-drivers\/","url":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/atlantic\/2009\/12\/02\/trusting-traffic-the-fantasy-and-fatality-of-pei-drivers\/","name":"Trusting Traffic: The Fantasy and Fatality of PEI Drivers - Spacing Atlantic","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/atlantic\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/atlantic\/2009\/12\/02\/trusting-traffic-the-fantasy-and-fatality-of-pei-drivers\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/atlantic\/2009\/12\/02\/trusting-traffic-the-fantasy-and-fatality-of-pei-drivers\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/farm4.static.flickr.com\/3145\/2803705535_cd274d62bb_b.jpg","datePublished":"2009-12-02T15:30:44+00:00","dateModified":"2013-01-21T08:49:21+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/atlantic\/#\/schema\/person\/5fd5642578fdf31ef3459d458bd2447a"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/atlantic\/2009\/12\/02\/trusting-traffic-the-fantasy-and-fatality-of-pei-drivers\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/spacing.ca\/atlantic\/2009\/12\/02\/trusting-traffic-the-fantasy-and-fatality-of-pei-drivers\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/atlantic\/2009\/12\/02\/trusting-traffic-the-fantasy-and-fatality-of-pei-drivers\/#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/farm4.static.flickr.com\/3145\/2803705535_cd274d62bb_b.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/farm4.static.flickr.com\/3145\/2803705535_cd274d62bb_b.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/atlantic\/2009\/12\/02\/trusting-traffic-the-fantasy-and-fatality-of-pei-drivers\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/atlantic\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Trusting Traffic: The Fantasy and Fatality of PEI Drivers"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/atlantic\/#website","url":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/atlantic\/","name":"Spacing Atlantic","description":"Canadian Urbanism Uncovered | Halifax, St. John's, Charlottetown, Fredericton, Saint John, Moncton, Sydney, Miramichi, Truro, Architecture, Urban Design, Public Transit, City Hall, Parks, Walking, Bikes, Streetscape, History, Waterfront, Maps, Public Spaces","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/atlantic\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/atlantic\/#\/schema\/person\/5fd5642578fdf31ef3459d458bd2447a","name":"Joshua Biggley","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/atlantic\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6b26103da6443ed0c4fd88ea8d635d32?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6b26103da6443ed0c4fd88ea8d635d32?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Joshua Biggley"},"description":"Joshua Biggley is an IT consultant by day and freelance writer by night. He lives in Charlottetown, PEI with his wife, four children, eight heritage hens, and a chocolate lab named Daisy. An Islander-by-choice, he is an out-spoken advocate for urban agriculture, food security, self-sufficiency, traffic planning and anything else that strikes his fancy.","url":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/atlantic\/author\/joshuabiggley\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/atlantic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1749","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/atlantic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/atlantic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/atlantic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8015"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/atlantic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1749"}],"version-history":[{"count":23,"href":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/atlantic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1749\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13634,"href":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/atlantic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1749\/revisions\/13634"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/atlantic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1749"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/atlantic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1749"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/atlantic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1749"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}