Driving the urban-rural debate
By Ron Petrie, The Leader-PostFebruary 5, 2009 12:01 PM
Source: Driving the urban-rural debate
Angry? When I read in the newspaper some ludicrous notion that rural kids are bad city drivers -- us! the farmboys! -- my being was so blinded by rage and indignation I hit a curb, took out a fire hydrant and jack-knifed the grain auger.
One driving instructor even suggested that teenagers in Saskatchewan who take their tests in small towns ought to have the licences stamped, as a warning, presumably, or possibly an excuse (Highway state trooper: "OK, no vision restrictions listed, so obviously you must have seen the Amtrak approaching, and -- oh, oh, you're from Radville? On your way, you l'il stubblejumper.")
Analyzing statistics from SGI, the Saskatoon newspaper found that 53 per cent of people in Regina failed their first test for a driver's licence, compared to 44 per cent in Saskatoon, only 24 in Moose Jaw, and progressively lower percentages in ever-smaller communities. At which point the Saskatoon newspaper concluded that rural kids are superior drivers? No. The Saskatoon newspaper suggested testing is too easy in small towns.
That most 16-year farmkids have 10 years of driving experience was another possible upshot to the statistics, missed entirely by the Saskatoon newspaper. Notch 99 per cent on an algebra exam at any school in the province and nobody at the Department of Education reckons you wrong in the head. No A+ in math has been reviewed because the unknown "x" in x = 4y2-16 on the blackboard was gophers in a gunny sack, not frozen yogurts at the food court.
But, oh, we do so enjoy choosing up sides in Saskatchewan. And no division is quite so -- well, divisive -- as that trusty old standby, the urban-rural split. Never mind that most of us would feel safer as a passenger of a car on Regina streets driven by a 16-year-old from Ituna than riding the freeways of L.A. with a Grade 10 student from Saskatoon at the wheel. Pitting the country mouse against the city mouse is always great sport in Saskatchewan, even more so on this side of the generation gap. We geezers are forever coming up with new probations and restrictions to make it more difficult for teenagers to get their licences -- conditions based on irrefutable evidence that we're not them, that our road privileges are automatically renewed every year, and young people are good-looking and athletic and partake in fun activities we've long since abandoned and forgotten, so to heck with them.
My guess is, what we saw this week was the floating of a trial balloon, a suggestion planted in the media that small-town kids ought to be tested for driving skills on the streets of Saskatoon or Regina, followed by a watch for public reaction before any such regulation is drafted.
Fine. But fair's fair, and vice-versa likewise, for city kids out in the country. For safety reasons, I am reluctant to conduct the on-road test by newspaper, but there's no reason we can't start here and now with the written exam for new urban drivers on rural roads.
QUESTION #1: Three vehicles approach an unmarked grid road intersection simultaneously, none signalling an intent to turn. Right-of-way belongs to: a) the vehicle with no direct oncoming traffic; b) the vehicle with no other vehicle to its immediate right, or c) Murray. ANSWER: c) Murray. That's the grain truck with the split-shift transmission that's a sonofabiscuit to gear down.
QUESTION #2: To parallel park on Main Street, you: a) nose in first; b) back in first, or c) pull up curbside. ANSWER: c) and then from the Co-op, nose ahead 40 feet to the post office or back up a half-block to the cafe.
QUESTION #3: A diamond checkerboard or inverted-T sign is a signal to: a) slow down for a correction line; b) come to a complete halt for a correction line, or c) stop, get out, explain as best you can the concept of "correction lines" to the new RCMP constable from Windsor and offer him a tow out. ANSWER: a) or c).
QUESTION #4: How cool would it be to see some geezer VP of SGI test his driving skills in a company-leased Lexus LS after a hard rain on that dirt road north of the gravel pit out by Johnson's? Would it be a) waay cool? ANSWER: a).
QUESTION #5: Grid road traffic is said to be two-way. Yet every single grid road has a set of only three tire paths, one left, one right ,one centre. Explain, please. After more than 30 years of driving in Saskatchewan, I still can't.
By Ron Petrie, The Leader-PostFebruary 5, 2009 12:01 PM
Source: Driving the urban-rural debate
Angry? When I read in the newspaper some ludicrous notion that rural kids are bad city drivers -- us! the farmboys! -- my being was so blinded by rage and indignation I hit a curb, took out a fire hydrant and jack-knifed the grain auger.
One driving instructor even suggested that teenagers in Saskatchewan who take their tests in small towns ought to have the licences stamped, as a warning, presumably, or possibly an excuse (Highway state trooper: "OK, no vision restrictions listed, so obviously you must have seen the Amtrak approaching, and -- oh, oh, you're from Radville? On your way, you l'il stubblejumper.")
Analyzing statistics from SGI, the Saskatoon newspaper found that 53 per cent of people in Regina failed their first test for a driver's licence, compared to 44 per cent in Saskatoon, only 24 in Moose Jaw, and progressively lower percentages in ever-smaller communities. At which point the Saskatoon newspaper concluded that rural kids are superior drivers? No. The Saskatoon newspaper suggested testing is too easy in small towns.
That most 16-year farmkids have 10 years of driving experience was another possible upshot to the statistics, missed entirely by the Saskatoon newspaper. Notch 99 per cent on an algebra exam at any school in the province and nobody at the Department of Education reckons you wrong in the head. No A+ in math has been reviewed because the unknown "x" in x = 4y2-16 on the blackboard was gophers in a gunny sack, not frozen yogurts at the food court.
But, oh, we do so enjoy choosing up sides in Saskatchewan. And no division is quite so -- well, divisive -- as that trusty old standby, the urban-rural split. Never mind that most of us would feel safer as a passenger of a car on Regina streets driven by a 16-year-old from Ituna than riding the freeways of L.A. with a Grade 10 student from Saskatoon at the wheel. Pitting the country mouse against the city mouse is always great sport in Saskatchewan, even more so on this side of the generation gap. We geezers are forever coming up with new probations and restrictions to make it more difficult for teenagers to get their licences -- conditions based on irrefutable evidence that we're not them, that our road privileges are automatically renewed every year, and young people are good-looking and athletic and partake in fun activities we've long since abandoned and forgotten, so to heck with them.
My guess is, what we saw this week was the floating of a trial balloon, a suggestion planted in the media that small-town kids ought to be tested for driving skills on the streets of Saskatoon or Regina, followed by a watch for public reaction before any such regulation is drafted.
Fine. But fair's fair, and vice-versa likewise, for city kids out in the country. For safety reasons, I am reluctant to conduct the on-road test by newspaper, but there's no reason we can't start here and now with the written exam for new urban drivers on rural roads.
QUESTION #1: Three vehicles approach an unmarked grid road intersection simultaneously, none signalling an intent to turn. Right-of-way belongs to: a) the vehicle with no direct oncoming traffic; b) the vehicle with no other vehicle to its immediate right, or c) Murray. ANSWER: c) Murray. That's the grain truck with the split-shift transmission that's a sonofabiscuit to gear down.
QUESTION #2: To parallel park on Main Street, you: a) nose in first; b) back in first, or c) pull up curbside. ANSWER: c) and then from the Co-op, nose ahead 40 feet to the post office or back up a half-block to the cafe.
QUESTION #3: A diamond checkerboard or inverted-T sign is a signal to: a) slow down for a correction line; b) come to a complete halt for a correction line, or c) stop, get out, explain as best you can the concept of "correction lines" to the new RCMP constable from Windsor and offer him a tow out. ANSWER: a) or c).
QUESTION #4: How cool would it be to see some geezer VP of SGI test his driving skills in a company-leased Lexus LS after a hard rain on that dirt road north of the gravel pit out by Johnson's? Would it be a) waay cool? ANSWER: a).
QUESTION #5: Grid road traffic is said to be two-way. Yet every single grid road has a set of only three tire paths, one left, one right ,one centre. Explain, please. After more than 30 years of driving in Saskatchewan, I still can't.
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