Sometimes politics occur just so that the resultant public backlash will draw attention to an injustice or some such that politicians and other various powers-that-be want us to be outraged about. I am willing to bet that if there were not such a significant number of high profile people with a vested interest in the airport opened their mouths, the "controversy" that "raged" about the airport would have been much shorter, smaller, and less annoying.
In Edmonton recently, there's been some notice that ambulance drivers have been ordered to slow down - to the point of obeying the speed limit, and stop at red lights (common policy) before blazing through to ensure the way is clear. The official rubber-stamped memo that was handed down assured us that this had safety in mind, and nothing else. Just safety.
They didn't just realize that the added seconds gained by driving faster imparts no advantage to paramedic's efforts in saving lives; they've been doing this for decades. They just now realized that we drive like assholes when confronted with sirens and lights, and they finally got sick of it. "Fine, dickheads, you want to impede our progress and drive like morons - see how you like it when we drive like you SHOULD be driving."
The official media reason is that ambulances are finally being charged for speeding and red light tickets, and I have no doubt they considered this new policy a double-whammy. They're just going to wait for people to catch wind of this and raise an objection so the police are pressured into not ticketing ambulances and other essential services. One of my pet peeves is being coerced into indignity by people who think they know better than us.
The season of brotherly love indeed.
Also, if there seemed to be a higher proportion of cuss-words in this post than usual; I am at my familial home, surrounded by little guys and I need to find an outlet for my foul language, lest I teach my parroting nephew something new.
UPDATE 24/12/10
Oops! Ha ha! They didn't mean it; Ambulance drivers can speed when they really need to. They didn't mean that memo. Couldn't we tell?
The amount of deliberate public manipulation these days is staggering.
1 comment:
And if even 60% of drivers on the road could tell you how to yield to an emergency vehicle I would be stunned. Stunned.
I failed my first drivers test because I had not just my examiner in the car, but HIS examiner for certification as well. He was so nervous he gave conflicting directions. I failed because I failed to yield on a green light and could not simultaneously turn right and left.
The second time I got the same idiot, who remembered me and had me marked as a pass before the test started.
Refrickingdiculous.
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