Automobiles for the People

Tofino

Tuesday 23 April 2019

Yes for sure, this is certainly a car dominated society. They are everywhere and they are huge! Vancouver, our first destination on the trip, may be going through a public transport revolution, there are still cars everywhere. The city fringes are dominated by shopping malls with accompanying acres of parking. The streets are super wide, many accommodating six lanes of traffic. As a pedestrian, just trying to cross the constant stream of cars can be a risky proposition. And if  anyone thinks Auckland streets are hazardous, Vancouvers are on a whole new another level. Even if you do get the light to cross the intersection, you still need to give way to turning vehicles. Further afield, simply put, you not going to get far without one.

So rent one we did. Due to the unknown territory, we opted to hire a mid-sized SUV. Not for the space of course, but for the safety features we thought wee might need when negotiating mountain roads. To us, a mid-sized SUV wasn’t a seven seat 3.0L tank. This thing was huge. Or at least it was in comparison to what we thought we were hiring. By North American standards, however, it was tiny. 

It’s fair to say that we were a little apprehensive about driving in Canada. Not because we were afraid of the standard of the infrastructure, but because we hadn’t driven on the ‘wrong’ side of the road for nearly five years. Well not in a car the size of a tank anyway.

Luckily, my skills had been honed by years of driving in fictitious American cities in numerous video games. Actually, thinking about the carnage that I typically caused from my absent mindedness,  that perhaps shouldn’t be taken a reliable indication of my driving skills whilst in a foreign country. Nevertheless, once we got used to the road rules, or rather the lack of them, we soon got the hang of it. 

Actually, whilst I’m on the subject of road rules what is it with Canadian speed limits? 80kph (50mph) on a modern highways seems to be woefully slow and it was only through the selective use of cruise control that I was able to stay anywhere near the posted speed limit. But we were on holiday, is a beautiful part of the world and absolutely in no rush to get anywhere quickly. All good.

And so, as the asphalt rolled under our not insubstantial wheels, I got to thinking. I know, but still. British Columbia has given, and I assume by extension so does the rest of Canada, a huge amount of land to the motor vehicle. Small towns are split apart by six lane highways, parking lots dominate town planning and pedestrians are strictly second class. We should probably be grateful for even getting footpaths, even if they do suddenly end for no apparent reason.

Is this then, the natural conclusion of a car dominated society? Is this where New Zealand will end up if we continue down the same road? Pun totally intended. Let’s hope common sense prevails. It’s a real shame that we couldn’t have made this journey by train and really have enjoyed the experience. And just as that thought left my mind, I spotted the exit we were looking for, indicated and pulled off to the right. Only another 150km to go and we’d be where we needed to be. 

Above: Our mid-sized SUV third from the right