Amazing truck drivers praised

Heavy truck traffic along 16 Avenue is a fact of life, but has raised concerns after a fatal crash last week. Letter writer Jody Rempel says many truck drivers are top-notch drivers.

John Gordon/Langley Times file photo

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Editor: I am writing in response to R. Jones’ letter to the editor (The Times, Jan. 26) headlined “Professional drivers replaced with ‘morons’.”

Let me tell you, R. Jones, that the only ‘morons’ on the road are the ones who think people driving tractor-trailers are an inconvenience. Yes, I admit, there are many people in the industry who probably have gotten into it illegally, or have families that own trucking companies or schools. And I will even admit further that yes, they are ‘morons.’

But there are also many amazing Class 1 drivers out there who have gone entire careers without causing a single accident. People like my stepdad, Stephen Christmas. He has been driving a truck for nearly 40 years.

In the 1990s, he had his picture in The Province newspaper for preventing a fatal accident with a three-year-old girl in the winter in the Fraser Canyon. I used to go on trips with him all the time, and let me tell you, I have never felt safer with anyone else behind the wheel of anything than I do when I jump in his cab and we take off.

The only time I do feel unsafe is when I am in regular traffic with people in cars who cut people off, change lanes without signalling and drive way too fast for the road conditions.

This summer, I was a passenger in a car driving straight in the right lane when some ‘moron’ in the left lane decided he wanted to turn right at the intersection. The car I was in was hit, and written off.

Another time, I had the right-of-way in a parking lot, and some ‘moron’ in a car decided it was his turn at a stop sign, and crashed into the back end of my car.

As for that comment you made about tractor-trailers driving too slow up hills and too fast down hills, how do you think an engine can haul tonnes of freight up a hill quickly?

The reason they don’t pull over to let other drivers by is because many drive too slowly through the curves. Some ride right up against the back end of the trailer during the winter months. Some drivers, if they do get in front of a truck, then take 20 km/h off the speed limit.

In plain English, all these drivers are safety hazards. As an example, only a ‘moron’ applies the brakes at all through the Fraser Canyon, unless it’s an emergency. Whether it’s a car or truck, it shouldn’t matter.

R. Jones should get the facts straight before insulting people.

There are a lot of fools in every line of work. Would R. Jones want to be lumped in with them?

Jody Rempel,

Langley