Living in this province means spending time on the highway for almost everyone I know. Some of my friends and family members hit the highway only on long weekends, facing traffic and cursing the roads when they are at their busiest.
I'm one of those people who drives tens of thousands of kilometres every year for family, fun and work. I've appreciated watching highways as they've been twinned and wonder why others aren't expanded.
One of the roads I sometimes drive is hilly and curvy and every time I travel that way I watch people pass where they shouldn't, wondering why it is so important to drive so fast over such a short distance. Using simple math a person can figure out their risk can gain them only a few minutes.
Construction zones are a reality we complain about in this province, but slowing to 60 kilometres an hour isn't difficult. I travel through a construction zone several times a week and am even more conscious of my speed after hearing about a tragedy taking a young woman's life a few weeks ago.
Every time I drive through the zone near our community someone zips past my car almost always passing at about the place where the no passing signs are posted.
Today I was listening to a news report about a driver doing more than twice the speed limit in a construction zone near Maidstone. The driver will face stiff penalties losing much more than the few minutes or less it would have taken to slow down.
This summer I was driving over a hill and suddenly came upon a construction zone where there were no advance signs and the sign people were slowing traffic without actual signs, using their bare hands to move cars along. It was a little scary to think someone could come speeding past and not even see the zone.
There are unknown hazards all along the highway and I am actually grateful for the orange signs. They are much easier to deal with than a huge moose jumping onto the highway.
Not every hazard is moving though. Over the past several weeks I have noticed more and more abandoned cars by the side of the road. After passing the same car for several nights I wondered if I should begin carrying window cleaner and paper towels with me when I travelled to clean off the rear lights so they would reflect better when vehicles went by.
Living in rural Saskatchewan means I have to spend some time on the road and I'm willing to take a few extra minutes to get where I want to go.
