Dear Editor:

Whats with Alberta driver education (or lack thereof) is the only criteria to get a drivers licence in Alberta to have an IQ that matches your shoe size? There sure must be a lot of people with small feet.

As a long haul driver, Ive driven in just about every province and state in North America and Ill have you know that Im not just picking on them for sport. Why is it that the TV show Canadas Worst Driver has such a high percentage of graduates from the Wildrose province?

Every time I drive any distance, why is it that the vehicles passing on double solid lines, on the crest of a hill, or on a blind corner dont have a plate on the front and a red and white one on the back?

I didnt know that the slower traffic keep right sign means race the vehicle in the left lane until the lane ends or you have the opportunity to cut off the vehicle in the left lane.

Why is it that every time there is a curve or bend in the road, the rules state that you must slow to 70 kilometres per hour, but when it straightens out, you must do 140 kilometres per hour?

Cruise control must have been invented for everyone except those with Alberta plates; then its just an inconvenience that keeps all other traffic moving in an orderly fashion.

The rationale I keep hearing is that the Alberta tourist dollar is good for the B.C. economy, but I seriously wonder if the cost of police responding to accidents, the cost of repeated highway closures due to accidents, or the loss of human life due to poor driver abilities is offset by tourist dollars. How many tourist dollars is a human life worth nowadays? I cant seem to find that statistic.

Should we assume that the Alberta government intentionally picked red as a prominent colour on the plates so as to be a warning to the unsuspecting?

Why is it that on most weekends and especially on long weekends, a good majority of accidents on B.C. highways even as far away as Vancouver Island involve drivers with those good old red and white plates?

I strongly feel that we should be lobbying the Alberta government to institute a graduated driving education system that should be even more stringent than the one we have in B.C., so as to bring the quality of driver education and expertise to a level that stops endangering the people from other provinces, and yes, even other states.

Thanks for letting me vent, and safe driving to the rest of us.

Toni Bokesch

Radium Hot Springs