The Similkameen News Leader
Editorial
August 26, 2008
LET'S CALL IT HIGHWAY BINGO
I made a mistake on Sunday.
A huge mistake.
I decided, for some unknown reason, it would be good for my health to walk from our house to somewhere downtown.
I'm not sure why I thought it was such a good idea, but I did. For those of you who don't know, I live in South Princeton. It often gets mistakenly identified as 'The Tunnel' but most of us in the neighbourhood prefer the sound of 'South Princeton' better.
So, I'm walking down the Trans Canada Trail and note that the traffic is rather heavy on Highway 3, but then I remember there's that wonderful technological wonder from Kevin Falcon (some call it the pedestrian-controlled crossing signal) waiting for me at Burton Avenue. It invites me to take a big step onto one 'island' and beckons me to press the button to stop traffic so I can cross the highway safely.
I pause for a moment, thinking that I will soon have the power to bring traffic to a standstill. It's intoxicating. I soak it in for a moment wondering if school crossing guards get the same rush. Then I wonder if the rush they get comes from wearing a badge and a reflective vest.
I push the button which lets out a feeble electronic burp of some kind and continues to beep, telling me that as far as it's concerned, the highway is now safe for me to cross.
Well, apparently none of the drivers on Highway 3 at that moment got the message as they kept zipping by all very much oblivious to the chirping of the signal and those almost invisible flashing yellow warning lights. So I did what anyone else in my position would do, I waited for an opening and ran across the highway.
Thank you, Kevin Falcon, for the adrenaline rush and cardio workout. It must have shaved five minutes off my life and could have knocked that down to four had I been wearing a reflective vest.
The trip home was equally rewarding and exciting. A family was at the other side trying to figure out how to get across when I arrived. I waved them over and as we passed each other somewhere between traffic and crosswalk I mentioned to the father figure that it was just a poor design.
He gave me one of those deer-in-the-headlights looks and shook his head. "Just a poor design?"
I dodged some more traffic and made it safety across the five lanes of Falcon's Gift to Princeton.
Then I remembered why I rarely walk downtown from South Princeton. It's the flashing yellow lights.
Flashing yellows usually mean one of three things, a tow truck is hauling a wreck; a warning to watch for uneven pavement or a highways vehicle is on the side of the road and someone's taking a nap. Nobody seems to take flashing yellow lights all that seriously.
Flashing reds, on the other hand, make you stop, unless the car you're in is stolen and the flashing reds are on a police vehicle.
Regardless, flashing reds get your attention where flashing yellows just tease you.
That is, unless you're dodging traffic running across Highway 3.
