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Letter: Speeders hurting Honeymoon Bay

The logging associated drivers are driving well over posted speed limits
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Speeders hurting Honeymoon Bay

My name is Cristine Mackenzie and I live with my husband at 10215 South Shore Road, Honeymoon Bay. We have lived in this beautiful quiet community for four years, and in this time I have experienced hundreds of different drivers every day, driving at insanely fast speeds starting at 3 a.m. These drivers are logging related drivers. We do have local and tourism traffic that can be terrible too.

The logging associated drivers are driving well over posted speed limits, fully loaded carrying at least 50 tones of material in a 30 km and a 50 km zone at least five days a week, spring, summer and fall, starting at 3 a.m. every day. When the logging associated vehicles are not loaded, the drivers are driving incredibly fast, causing their trailers, chains, and gear to smash and crash at such loud levels that my exterior house doors and windows rattle and shake in their frames, all starting at 3 a.m., five days a week. The drivers use their extremely loud engine brakes out here often, usually in an attempt to scare some person or family dog, cat, baby deer, elk etc. out of the way.

The amount of dead animals in this area is truly horrifying. My entire community (children too!) have to see at least one dead animal on their commute to work/school every day. And it’s not just dead elk and bear, it’s family cats and dogs, it’s deer that are literally turned inside out, it’s baby fawns in pieces all over the road. This is directly caused by huge vehicles (logging trucks, heavy equipment transports etc.) hitting the animals at extremely high speeds! It is genuinely like Mad Max and the Thunder Dome out here from 3 a.m. to 7 a.m., all thanks to the logging related industry drivers.

We have a well maintained bypass for logging traffic, why aren’t they using it? It’s meant to keep my community safer by reducing industrial traffic off our community roads, they must be compelled to used it!

Special note to RCMP and CVSE

The industry drivers know the CVSE would NEVER be in this area at 3 a.m., (CVSE doesn’t work at 3 a.m.) and they take FULL advantage of it! The drivers also know there is zero active on duty RCMP in this area from 2 a.m. to 6 a.m.; the closest on duty RCMP is in Duncan at this time. Even if RCMP drive at fast speeds, it will still take them at least 30 full minutes to get here, leaving the drivers lots of time to get out of the area. These drivers know there is no driving enforcement out here, and they take full advantage of it!

Possible solutions:

• Signage that states no engine brake use, residential area.

• compel or require all industry vehicles to use the bypass. (Bypass at flashing light just before Honeymoon Bay, ending at “chicken joes”, access to logging areas/cut blocks.

• More RCMP in the area, especially 2 to 6 a.m.! More road blocks and speed traps. The Honeymoon Bay store is getting a liquor licence this year; drinking and driving is going to be a nightmare.

• a strong CVSE presence, especially at 3 to 7 a.m.! The industry is making billions of dollars in this area, we need your oversight in road safety!

• road development or traffic calming measures. There is planned development in this area, hundreds of houses to be built; a proactive approach to road safety is in our best interest as a community.

• compel forestry harvesting companies to be accountable for their drivers. My community is in chaos because of the industry; they should be far more concerned for community safety than they have shown over the years!

In conclusion, I need to remind all of you that Honeymoon Bay South Shore Road is a 30 km and a 50 km speed limit. Almost every single big truck on our road is going at least double the speed limits every single day. I am one voice in my community — everyone is as frustrated and angry as I am. Please help us keep our community safer.

Cristine Mackenzie

Honeymoon Bay