Yet again, this morning at roughly 10:30 AM in broad day light, I was approximately four feet away from getting hit by an older driver in her 60s. This was the second time this week that I have been almost hit by incompetent drivers in this city and province. The biggest scare though was on Tuesday morning at approximately 6:30 AM I was very close to being an extremely injured or dead young coder. A young driver on Tuesday morning was operating a Dodge Heavy Duty truck and was approximately two feet away from knocking me into another universe. I was crossing the street at Adelaide and Fanshawe going heading southbound when the young driver slammed on his accelerator and turned that corner like he was racing the Daytona 500. Unfortunately I was not able to get the license plate number as he sped off rapidly and did not even stop. This incident left me with the thought of how horrible this province’s drivers are and that there is some serious issues with the Drivers Education programs and instruction provided.

When I was sixteen, I took Drivers Ed in high school in the mornings over the course of approximately a month in Saskatchewan. At the time I do believe that taking and completing your Drivers Ed course in Saskatchewan was mandatory before you could attempt the road test to graduate from a learner’s permit to a regular drivers permit. Now, I am not sure what the regulations are here in Ontario as I have not been required to look them up before but in my opinion I believe that individuals living in this province should be required to take Drivers Ed from a government regulated instructor before individuals can attempt to take a road test. From the Ontario Government’s website for Drivers Ed courses, it states the following:

By taking an MTO-approved Beginner Driver Education Course at a driving school, G1 license holders may qualify for a four-month reduction in the 12-month minimum G1-licensing period as well as a potential reduction in insurance premiums.

Now this in my opinion is absolutely ridiculous. I believe this is ridiculous simply because by taking a Drivers Ed course you may qualify for a four-month reduction in holding your learner’s permit? Is this really fair to learners who have real experience other then in class teachings of the utopia situations provided by an instructor who holds your hand? There should absolutely not be any sort of reduction to the amount of required time you must hold a learner’s permit, but simply require learners to take a Drivers Ed course before you attempt the actual road test and keep the holding time of one year – period! In my opinion, by not taking a Drivers Ed course you simply do not properly learn how to handle a vehicle within various situations and you don’t learn what I believe to be necessary. With that being said, it also appears that the Drivers Ed in vehicle training is also not doing too well at providing real situation experience and training.

From what others have told me who have received their learner’s permit within this province and graduated to a G2 license – you simply only get trained and tested on the basic driving skills (ex: parallel parking, stopping at a stop sign, turning, driving through a school zone, etc.) within a small area of the city that has little to no traffic. Why aren’t these individuals trained and tested on driving in the downtown core of a very heavily trafficked area where anything can happen a heck of a lot easier then in a lightly trafficked zone. I believe they should be trained and tested in driving in heavily trafficked zones simply because individuals usually have problems with comprehending what is constantly going on around them in the environment outside of the vehicle while driving from my experience and observations. For example, one of my friends seems to have a single narrow scoped vision when he is driving and does not understand that looking directly in front of his vehicle at all times and looking primarily at the road only is how someone should drive safely. To this day, I refuse to get into a vehicle with him while he is operating it because his reaction time to situations going on around the vehicle are very slow and usually almost to the point of being too late.

One of my personal beefs with the MTO is the fact that I have had my full license longer then most individuals my age in this province. I originally received my license when I was living in Saskatchewan but when I moved here to Ontario I was refused my full graduated license when I switched it over. I asked why and received the answer that I do not have enough experience. I thought it was absolute horse crap to tell you the truth but that is the government – “Let’s deny a person who can actually drive his full graduated license and instead give it too someone who has no real experience other then city driving.” (They did not say this, but this is what I believe they were thinking at the time).

Now I am not saying I am the best driver but I will admit that I believe I am within the top percentile for this province or at least above average. What I would like you to take away from this is that automobile drivers are very unpredictable and you as a pedestrian or another driver must be consistently aware of vehicles around you. Don’t let an idiot driver cause you pain – always protect number one (which is yourself).