Dear Editor,
I was very interested in your Viewpoint article in the Jan. 25, 2024 edition, pg. 6, titled ‘Please be aware of flashing green, lives could be at stake’. However, I think you omitted one possible cause for that little grey car to have ignored the large white 4×4’s flashing green light: lack of knowledge.
That would have been the case, had I been the driver of that little car. I’m in my 70’s, grew up in a small town in eastern Canada, and later moved from Montreal, then to Calgary where I lived for over 30 years. I’ve spent the last 15 years in rural central Alberta.
While I’ve seen green fire trucks (I think Calgary switched from red ones to green ones years ago) — but the fire trucks in the communities surrounding where I live aren’t white and sport red flashing lights. So do the ambulances.
If I were driving down the highway in front of a vehicle such as you described, while I feel sure I’d see the light, I would be oblivious to its nature. For all I’d know, it would simply be a sign of a “wide load” or “heavy load”.
However, if I knew what that flashing green light meant, I would certainly pull over and let it pass — so I thank you for the new-to-me information your article gave me.
One other thought though. If I were the driver of the emergency vehicle and the vehicle in front of me wasn’t getting the message of the green light, I’d use my horn to get it to pull over. You didn’t mention that as an option in the circumstances.
Thanks again for the information. If in future I ever see a white pick-up truck sporting a flashing green light, I’ll be sure to move out of its way.
Margaret Blank,
Mirror, Alta.
