STORY CONTINUES BELOW THESE SALTWIRE VIDEOS

Has any driver heard the adage: “Mirror, signal, brake, turn”? This is the correct way to safely turn; here, however, “Brake, move opposite to the way you want to turn, turn, signal” seems the chosen sequence. Oh! The mirror is just to admire yourself or do make-up! 

Similarly, when changing lanes, it should be: “Mirror, signal, shoulder check, change lane;” however, too often it’s “Change lane, signal.”

I’m pretty certain the correct ways are taught by our driving schools, but pass your test, do your own thing appears the mantra.

Can we try to be a little safer driving, more considerate of other road users? My heart might not suffer so many palpitations behind the wheel! 

Writing to you regarding our Series 100 and Series 2 highways.

What I wanted to bring to your attention is the amount of debris and other materials, from dead animals to just plain junk and tire parts, not being picked up.

Did you know that the Department of Highways used to pick up materials spread over the highways? It’s very dangerous and costly, thus the reason for my letter to you. Do they still do it? Not often enough. I've seen highway department trucks just pass by.

My family and I were recently heading west on Highway 101 when a piece of metal on the highway, which we could not avoid due to other traffic, broke our lower engine shield — $135 to get it fixed.

A week later, the same thing happened: more “unavoidable” metal. A car ahead of us swerved and missed it but we could not follow him. Now, we have a $1,940 bill to fix our 2020 Mazda and that hits the pocketbook pretty hard.

We have seen this kind of junk on Series 100 highways, including pieces of truckers’ tires, wood pieces, etc.

The highways are not safe!

It is the Department of Highways’ responsibility to look after this. Do it now, rather than waiting until there is a death involved.

My letter to a local MLA goes unanswered.

Re: Anne Cameron’s letter, “Hurting Downtown,” Sept. 20, on planned changes to Spring Garden Road.

I was very happy to read this letter, clearly expressing my own views on this subject and, I believe, those of many others, at least of those to whom I speak. There is one other point that is not being mentioned often enough, however, and that is the continuing disregard of the needs of a large and growing number of people in the disabled community. I say “growing” because disabled seniors are constantly joining this once small group. I have become one of them.

The section of Spring Garden Road that was closed off for a large part of the past summer months included Park Lane which, besides stores and movie theatres, includes an office tower. There are three different businesses in that tower that I have occasion to visit several times every year. I used to be able to arrive at the front door in a taxi, walk (with my walker) up a ramp and it was a few more steps within the building to reach an elevator that took me to my destination. Leaving required merely retracing my steps to the street where taxis would be awaiting me.

But, city council has decided, in its wisdom, that the disabled should no longer have this easy access to the Park Lane offices. We now have to enter the building through the back door, on Dresden Row. Entering there is easy but, once in, one is faced with a long, daunting walk to get to the front of the building where the elevators are and then the same exhausting walk back to Dresden Row after the appointment is finished.

Halifax city council, please remember that seniors, though we may become disabled in our old age, are still active and we still vote! Please, come to your senses and scrap these efforts to make our lives even more difficult than they need to be. Mobility problems should rank a little higher on the priorities of the planning committee!

Can the public perhaps stand one more letter related to the spraying of glyphosate on our forests in Nova Scotia? There have been pro-spraying and anti-spraying letters in the paper recently but neither have pointed out the simple fact that spraying glyphosate is, while also costly, completely unnecessary.

I would hope that anyone involved in the forestry industry here in Nova Scotia, or anywhere else for that matter, has read the book Finding the Mother Tree by University of British Columbia Professor Suzanne Simard, PhD. In her book, she proves that trees live better and are healthier and grow faster when planted in concert with other trees. Trees are not a crop; they are a co-operative unit. Trees are not designed to be grown in a single-species environment.

Dr. Simard has shown through years of exhaustive research that trees aren’t better off in a single species planting. In fact, the opposite is true. Trees grown in a mono-culture environment do poorly when compared to those grown with other species. Therefore, spraying glyphosate to reduce broad-leaved trees is not only a waste of time and money but also counterproductive to the health of the trees that the spraying is attempting to help.

It should also be noted that the World Health Organization is not some flash-in-the-pan group of people trying to stoke unnecessary fear over the use of glyphosate. I would hope that the general public should have enough common sense to realize that when the WHO voices concerns over the use of a herbicide, they should take note. Any herbicide or pesticide, at its base function, is designed to eradicate something. Also, one cannot compare aerial spraying to that of ground-level application as the control exhibited on the ground far exceeds that of from the air.

Let’s take a look around and realize that just because something has been done for years doesn’t mean it’s still right to do it. Everyone needs to keep learning and growing — just like our trees do.

Re: “Climate change and fossil fuels: Lower oil prices defy robust forecasts for global demand,” Sept. 16, on page B5.

Quoting from the article: “... the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and the International Energy Agency (IEA) — the West's energy watchdog — see it growing by between two per cent and three per cent this year and next.”

How does this make a single individual feel about putting up solar panels, walking to work, turning the heat down, driving a bike to work or not flying when these two entities are happy that the world is on another page, so companies keep oil/fossil fuel profits high?

On another note, I wonder how much climate change was on the mind of world leaders when they got on their private jets to fly to London last weekend.

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