For years I’ve heard the same complaints about Nova Scotia drivers time and time again, it is a whole other world to experience them.
I have been a fully licensed driver since December, having ventured through some of the worst weather the East Coast has to offer. In less than a month I have already gone on one road trip, hydroplaned during a downpour, fishtailed in the snow understanding what “front-wheel drive” really means and even drifted into a parallel parking spot on black ice while trying to turn a corner.
Proud to say I have not crashed and I have spent a lot of hours practicing, and based on a few of the items on this list, I can confidently say I am a good driver. So here are my observations of Nova Scotia drivers as a newly licensed driver:
Every Nova Scotian road leads to someone driving well under the speed limit.
The average seems to be about 10km/hr under the posted limit but I have come across some people going 20, even 30 under. It is incredibly dangerous especially for someone who is going to speed limit or even 10 over. If you have to go slow because you’re nervous, slow down, move over, turn your hazards on….. or maybe just get off the road.
Lanes and signal lights are treated as optional
The amount of people who don’t seem to understand what the lines on the road are for absolutely astounds me. And there are two types of people: those who signal as needed the proper way, and those who only signal while turning – and never while changing lanes. When this came up on air, the overall consensus on our text line was “use your &%@ signals!”
Increasing allotted passing points was a bad idea
When you get your road test, you get a certain amount of points marked for certain actions. These aren’t good points, they’re violations. Many of my car-aficionado pals were bewildered to know that the previous 26 points was recently raised to 45. Considering that is almost double, it explains the state of drivers currently.
Road signs should be created and placed by people who are not familiar with the area
It seems that everyone expects each other to just know where to go and which lane to be in. If it wasn’t for Siri and Google Maps, I would be lost forever. The amount of signs that don’t show up until right at the exit when you’re probably in the far left of four lanes definitely shines a light on how Nova Scotians become used to changing lanes without signaling. The road signs just don’t make sense and I have had a 100% agreement response rate when inquiring about this with others.
There are not enough cup holders and we MUST do something about sun visors
While waiting for my car to be ready, I have been using a car share service. This is great because I get to experience different types of vehicles before settling into my incoming lemon, however I’ve noticed two consistent functional issues.
I carry around water and almost always have a coffee in-hand. That’s two cupholders. I can’t put either into the door holder, what am I to do for passengers? Well… I guess they’ll have to hold their drink.
Then the sun visors… those things are dangerous! First of all, the archaic partial-block and full pan swing to the driver’s side window is not helpful when you’ve just been flash-banged by Mr. Sun himself while taking a sharp turn on the on-ramp. There are a few accessories we can bring up to the future a little bit but the sun visor is definitely the first on the list.
What are your road-worthy grievances?
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