Editor:
May I add my voice to the calls for twinning the Trans-Canada Highway through Yoho National Park.
The article in the Sept. 22 Outlook explores only a part of the problem. Let's not forget the indifferent – the nicest word I can use – performance of Parks Canada on highway maintenance, particularly in the winter months, obviously one of the causes of the tragic death of Mr. Morrison.
And then there are the semi-trucks. It seems like almost every accident on that stretch and Rogers Pass involves a big rig. That's not a coincidence. To what extent do insufficient training of the drivers and lax enforcement of what truck safety protocols exist add to the problem?
Parks Canada, the RCMP and the B.C. government have critical information that needs to be public but they choose not to divulge. How can highway maintenance be improved? Which trucking companies have the worst and best safety records? What very specific stretches of the highway are the riskiest?
We need to improve the big rig safety and driving standards and some public shaming might be the necessary impetus to help that. So, my message to all of us who frequent that stretch of the Trans-Canada Highway – yes, twinning is the answer but even if the money were approved today, what are Parks Canada, the RCMP and the truckers doing to improve the safety of the highway and reduce the fatalities while we await the oh so necessary solution?
Douglas Macdonald,
Canmore
