Dear Editor,

[Re: Speeder caught after clocking 244 km/h, 91Ô­´´ Advance Times, May 11],

[Re: Warning doesn’t slow down all speeders, 91Ô­´´ Advance Times, May 25]

In the May 11 issue of the 91Ô­´´ Advance Times, there was an article about a 91Ô­´´ motorcyclist clocked going 180 kilometres over the speed limit. It took the concerted efforts of 91Ô­´´ RCMP, Abbotsford Police Department, and a helicopter to stop the driver before he killed himself or someone else.

In the May 25 issue of the 91Ô­´´ Advance Times there was an article about a Speed Watch program that caught speeders, and handed out speeding tickets and tickets for other infractions in various specific spots around 91Ô­´´ and the Lower Mainland.

Good to know! And you are needed here.

I am writing to ask why Fort 91Ô­´´ has fallen between the cracks. As someone who lives right near the intersection of Glover Road and 96th Avenue, I can attest to the horrible road conditions for people who live in this area and for the pedestrians that are navigating the sidewalks alongside testosterone fueled drivers. The majority of the drivers leaving the intersection at Glover Road and heading west on 96th are over the limit. Fort 91Ô­´´ has now attracted, by word of mouth, every type of vehicle that guns its engine from that intersection to fly up the road, picking up speed as they go. Sports cars, tampered with muffler systems, bikers, pickups; the noise is deafening and the speeds are over the top.

The speed reader board by the fire hall means nothing. It has become more of a dare board than anything else. Fort 91Ô­´´ has become the place to cut through on the way to River Road and there is no police presence, no deterrent, no reason at all for these drivers to stop their reckless driving. This little village is ruined now. All the residents, older people, visitors, the people with their pets, the families pushing strollers and walking with kids are subject to an onslaught of deafening noise (counting in the truck route) of vehicles rushing past, over speed. Scary and loud. There is no peace.

There is no accountability happening in Fort 91Ô­´´. The speeders are thumbing their noses at this town. A few weekends ago I walked down to Marina Park before twilight to see a rainbow and there was the deafening roar of revving engines coming across the water. Two cars were drag racing from the middle of the Haldi Bridge down the road past the campground. Then they turned around and came back and manoeuvered right in the middle of the bridge, got into position and did it again.

At one in the morning, the morning of the May Day Parade, I was awakened by a thundering sound in the distance that was coming closer and closer. I got up and looked out the window and saw six cars file past and line up at a red light at the Glover Road intersection. They sat there gunning their engines.

It was too dark to see what kind of cars they were but they had the same shape. Moments later more of the same cars sped down 96th and followed their leader. I counted eleven in all. What coincidence is that; the same type of cars, riding in formation, heading towards River Road, cutting through town, a great night for a race along the river. People be damned who are sleeping beside the road that they’re speeding down. (Hey, what’s the name of a grouping of same type cars going too fast? A crash of cars?)

Speed does kill and I’m not wishing this on anyone. (I know in my frustration I am repeating myself.)

These are just two occurrences from a day after day scenario of excessive speed in Fort 91Ô­´´. I invite the Mayor, the Police, the RCMP, the By-law Officers, anyone who has any responsibility to this part of the Township, to come and sit on the bus bench at Glover Road and 96th. Right there by the pub.

There you will have a perfect view of the vehicles coming down Glover Road in both directions, turning onto 96th and how fast they drive west. Come at ‘rush hour’ between six a.m. and nine. Come in the afternoon between three and six. Have a sit on the weekends any time of day and at night any hour, especially on a sunny day when the Biker Boyz are thundering through the Fort heading home. It is all rush hour. Come incognito, sit and experience an hour or two at a time of the reality at that intersection where the speeders are poised before momentum. Assess the situation. And then you’ll see. Please, crack down! We need day after day speed traps, ticketing, warnings. A presence that deters. We need the message to get across that you can’t do it here.

I think that if safety laws were in effect, if speed limits were enforced, if excessive noise was ticketed, enough money could be generated to finance officers to keep watch over Fort 91Ô­´´ and change the out of control climate that has developed on these roads. Crazy idea?

I’m sure word of mouth would work in reverse and the streets could be taken back from the reckless and irresponsible. A summer of calm would change everything in Fort 91Ô­´´. People would feel safer, the enjoyment level would go way up, tourists having a day visit wouldn’t be muttering ‘OMG’ as the bikers and the souped-up engines deafen everyone in their path. It is awful. What if Fort 91Ô­´´ could become a delightful place to enjoy; busy, but peaceful and quieter, too? There is a very, very aggressive energy here on the roads.

The only way for Fort 91Ô­´´ to be known as somewhere different, in a good way, is for the street problems to be dealt with. I’m sending this plea to everyone I can think of: the Mayor, Township hall, the RCMP (again), the 91Ô­´´ Advance Times. We need help in Fort 91Ô­´´.

Diane Toulmin, Fort 91Ô­´´

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