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Viewpoint: Powell River drivers can teach children a lesson

Three mornings a week, I walk our three children up Jasper Street and across Joyce Avenue to our amazing daycare.
Powell River drivers

Three mornings a week, I walk our three children up Jasper Street and across Joyce Avenue to our amazing daycare. I stand with these impressionable little beings and wait for a safe moment to cross (there are no crosswalks within two blocks of where we need to cross).

Car, after car, after car blasts past us as I stand teaching our children never to risk their lives in front of an approaching car. We stand waiting and drivers teach our children that cars do not stop for anyone.

The limited number of crosswalks and wide roads teach our kids that the city is designed for drivers. Occasionally, maybe once a month, someone decides they have time to stop and let us cross. Thank you.

Recently, seeing that the only car in sight was a block and a half away, I tentatively led my three children part way into the road, figuring the car would see us and at least slow down so we could cross without the driver even having to stop. Instead, they kept their fast-paced drive and blasted past us as I held my kids back from the centre line. My children learned obscenities they had never before heard from my mouth.

When school starts in September, please count the number of children you see walking to school each day, especially on their own. They are a rare species these days.

Unfortunately, our eight year old won’t be allowed to walk to school on her own because we can’t trust our community to keep her safe. When we step into our cars, we don’t step out of our community, so what kind of community are we?

The Sustainable Official Community Plan (Schedule I & J) at powellriver.civicweb.net/filepro/documents/15308 is a great start for improving our children’s ability to walk and ride safely in our neighbourhoods. Let’s keep this conversation going, especially if resident recruitment increases the cars on the roads.

And please, remember to drive with an eye for the children of our community; they’re watching us.

Megan Sloan is a Powell River resident.