Stop the speeding, lower the limits
As Victoria Police Chief Del Manak has pointed out, children walking to school are vulnerable road users.
However, there are other vulnerable pedestrians: Parents pushing children in strollers, people using mobility devices, shoppers carrying groceries, employees hurrying to work, seniors moving more slowly, even tourists strolling and sight-seeing.
It is time for the City of Victoria to lower speed limits to 30 km/h on a 24/7听basis near all schools, parks, playgrounds, daycares, libraries, health clinics, senior-care residences, recreational facilities, community centres and in neighbourhood hubs and on all residential streets.
Britta Gundersen-Bryden
Victoria
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Dash-cams should be standard equipment
As a result of a serious accident north of Nanaimo, the RCMP are asking for help locating dash-cam footage of what took place.
Why not make dash-cams compulsory for all new cars the way backup cameras are? If all cars had a front and a rear facing camera and an event data recorder, police would know exactly what happened.
This would not only make sure the liability for an accident is fairly assessed, it would also greatly reduce the time roads would need to be closed for accident reconstruction.
As an added bonus it would improve the way people drive because everybody over the age of two knows, people behave better when they know they鈥檙e being watched. A win-win for safety and keeping traffic moving.
S.I. Petersen
Nanaimo
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Oak Bay recycing depot has many issues
It is the Wild West at the Oak Bay recycling depot on Elgin Street.
About 20 per cent of the people using the facility are not from Oak Bay.
Residency decals are not required and the bottle tote and the metal bin have become a source of revenue for many.
While the depot is a good service for Oak Bay residents, it is an excellent service to those from Victoria and Saanich.
Patrick McAllister
Oak Bay
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What鈥檚 the point of renaming Ogden Point?
Rather than rename the rock jetty to something other than what everyone other than the oh-so-politically correct re-writers of history want, how about renaming the point/breakwater and cruise ship terminal Transfer Station Interface?
Tourists transfer from the ships to buses, carriages (does Victoria still allow that form of transportation?) and by foot and the garbage is transferred to garbage trucks.
Most people recognize the name and function of a transfer station so why not call it like it is?
Clay Atcheson
North 91原创
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Regardless of district, it鈥檚 Ogden Point
What on Earth is wrong with these people?
By all means, form this new Breakwater District, but the main feature should be Ogden Point and the Ogden Point Breakwater and the signs should state this.
Enough of this name changing.
Lyall Eriksen
Colwood
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Dealers might have tips for legal pot-sellers
It is indeed sweet victory to see the B.C. Liquor Corp. selling cannabis.
In the B.C. election of 2001, I, as a B.C. Marijuana Party candidate, was arrested at the behest of the Victoria Hillside liquor store for campaigning for legal cannabis.
Some advice about marketing would be in order.
As a Realtor of 30 years, I can offer some pointers. Analyze the prevailing market and emulate it. At present, in the 鈥渇riends鈥� market, you can smell before you buy. If you don鈥檛 like it, you can bring it back.
If you buy an ounce, you get a significant discount. And there is no immediate compulsion to replace a 20-pound rubber tomb around each gram with a sandwich bag.
I don鈥檛 think even one thought was given to what consumers wanted in terms of market conditions and what they were used to.
In my business, that is called faulty marketing. In fact, it鈥檚 a train wreck. You can鈥檛 raid the prevailing market with lousy business practices and outrageous prices.
Chuck Beyer
Port Alberni
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A handy guide to election economics
I came home the other day and there was a guy walking out of my house with handfuls of my money.
鈥淲hat鈥檚 going on?鈥� I said.
鈥淚t鈥檚 OK, we鈥檙e from the government and we鈥檙e allowed to take your money.鈥�
A few weeks later the guy came back and returned some of my money.
鈥淭here you are, sir. Here鈥檚 some money. If getting money makes you happy, please vote for our party in the coming election.鈥�
So I asked him: 鈥淚f a robber came and stole my TV, should I pay him a reward for bringing it back?鈥�
Don Boult
Saanich
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Speed limits, bike lanes key to better downtown
I was a business owner in the Rock Bay area serving Victoria and the Island since 1990. Yes, there have been incredible changes in the region, including tremendous population growth.
My first retirement purchase seven years ago was a bicycle, which now sits in the garage collecting dust. I, along with relatives and friends, have had accidents with vehicles or have fallen off bikes. Cyclists do not win in these situations.
Bike lanes will help. Lowering speed limits in appropriate areas will definitely help.
I was in Stockholm for three weeks last June. There are 26 municipalities with a population of 2.2 million. Not once was I in a car. The van service from the airport to our address was excellent. Buses are on time, connecting to trains, boats and underground transportation systems. Walking trails and bicycle trails were separate and were safely connected to the municipal transit systems. A Swede told me it took 25 years to create their systems, which they continue to improve.
I believe safety and traffic congestion in Greater Victoria could be improved if 16/20-wheeler delivery trucks were not allowed to deliver products from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and speed limits were lowered in popular tourist and residential areas.
Six months ago, I drove down Douglas and hit 11 red stop lights at 14听intersections. The other day, driving down Douglas, I hit four green lights, one red light, then four green lights. However, going up Fort Street from Government to Cook, the bicycle lanes had new smooth pavement while I bounced along on a lumpy, bumpy road. I was almost squeezed into a parked car by the 6A transit bus running a yellow light at Quadra that turned red before it cleared the intersection.
More caution by professional drivers, automobile drivers, cyclists and pedestrians could alleviate problems. I have no desire or need to go downtown in Victoria as it goes through its growing pains and questionable planning.
Nestor Fedoruk
Saanich
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Kudos for Colquitz restoration work
As my husband and I were walking through Copley Park in Saanich where the Colquitz River Restoration Project is underway, we expressed how often letters to the Times 91原创 were very negative and wondered about a topic that could be positive.
We would like to applaud Saanich and Peninsula Streams Society for the restoration of the Colquitz River.
We have spoken with staff and volunteers several times over the years and have noticed the reduction in fish, specifically the coho, that spawn in the river.
I don鈥檛 recall seeing any coho in the river last fall, but hope that with the work that is currently being done, the fish will come back.
Keep up the good work!
Pat Jensen
Victoria
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Ditch GP referrals for repeat specialist visits
When we lived in Alberta, if we needed a specialist (in my case it was an ophthalmologist), say every two years, and we were a regular patient, we didn鈥檛 need a referral from our family doctor.
For the first visit, yes, I can see you need one, but for repeat visits, even after a year or so, why do you need yet another visit to your GP?
The cost to the health-care system is probably negligible, but cutting out the pennies saves the pounds.
Janet Martin
Nanaimo
