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Originally Posted by KnifeMissile
Thank you, kutulu, for actually reading my post and clearing it up for others.
Thanks, meembo, for your kind apology.
Okay, I admit that my reaction was harsh and presumptuous (much like Ustwo's assertion of my youth). It's just that the end of the article and the TV newscast where I had learned of the incident seemed to absolve the mother of any responsibility and totally blamed the road and weather conditions. So much so that the canal should be moved so that these accidents won't be so fatal.
I think it would be more appropriate to tell people to be more careful and to slow down when driving conditions are bad. Really, you're not likely to drive off the road at 5 km/h. I learned this lesson my first day of driving and I'm pretty sure she'd been driving for a while... |
I'll add my apology for the speed bit as well - I also misread that as 100kph.
And now that we know she was on a cell phone, yes she screwed up. Bigtime. But that doesn't mean i feel no sympathy or compassion for her, and especially for her child, who didn't have any choice in the matter.
And it also doesn't mean that I'm going to go around calling various drivers idiots. I've made mistakes too, and I've probably driven more miles than any two people here combined, unless we have a semi driver I don't know about. In a slow year I'll put 50,000 miles on my newscar alone, and then another 20-30k on my personal car, and that's not counting miles on the live/satellite trucks
You WILL make mistakes. You have already made them. No, you were not going 100kph, but you were going fast enough to hydroplane.
I think some blame also should be placed on the driver training system. People in the United States (and probably Canada too since you guys didn't drive any differently than we do when I was up there a few years ago) don't know how to drive. They're not taught how to drive. They spend the majority of their driver education in the classroom, and what little seat time they get is largely used to learn about parallel parking and slow driving through neighborhoods. No controlling the car at the limits, no skid avoidance, nothing. It's pathetic, and it may have contributed to this woman's death.
Regarding moving the canal - I have trouble seeing how moving the canal would be much more effective than a good, solid safety rail.