Lead Feet
by
That British Woman
April 2, 2010
Wh
en
we moved from the city we wanted a slower quieter pace
of life. So we bought “The Acreage” which is located off
of Airport Road, above Highway 9.
It sort of came as a bit of a shock to discover the
other name for Airport Road is “The Formula One
Racetrack.” Or at least that’s my name for it; and when
it intersects with Highway 89, that too then turns into
“The Formula One Racetrack.” There are certain times of
year, certain days of the week, and certain times of the
day when it is worse than others. Weekends especially on
a Friday night and Sunday night can be bad; also “rush
hour” is busy as well.
Since moving up here I have had a number of close
calls with these idiots on the roads. One in particular
stands out in my mind for a number of reasons, including
me traumatizing a poor young police man!!
One day I was driving on Highway 89 towards
Shelburne. Just after you pass Violet Hill, there is a
straight stretch of road, where people feel they must
increase their speed. I am driving along minding my own
business when I see a line of traffic approaching me.
Obviously the car in the front wasn’t going fast enough,
so a big black SUV pulled out to overtake it. Meanwhile
I am getting closer to them. So I think to myself,
surely the black SUV will pull back in when he sees me,
as he’s not going to make it, but no he carries on. I am
sure there must have been sheer panic in my face; I
looked in my rear view mirror and saw no one behind me
and slammed on my brakes, just in time for the black SUV
to overtake the car in front of it and swerve back into
its own lane, narrowly missing me.
I was shaking so much it was crazy, then once I had
got over the shock the anger set in. That idiot could
have not only killed me, but killed the people they were
overtaking and themselves.
I carry on and I decide to call in at the OPP station
at Primrose. There was a poor young police officer on
the front desk, who asked what he could do for me. At
that point I just started to rant on about what had just
happened, how it was bad enough that in the city the
drivers are colour blind; they have no concept that the
red light means stop, but since moving up here, I have
nearly been driven off the road numerous times; and but
for the grace of God I could have been killed today.
After ranting on and on at the poor kid, my final
statement was:
”If I get killed on these
roads, I will NOT be happy.”
The poor kid took all my information and off I
trotted on my merry little way, thinking nothing would
happen. The next night, the police were stationed at the
side road south of me pulling over speeders!! I am sure
when a middle aged white woman with a British accent
comes into the police station now, that poor kid must
run to the back room, as he knows she is going to be
ranting on and on!!