A young driver from Mission thought it would be fun to race along Zero Avenue.  The fun didn't last long.  Here's the story as told in the Aldergrove Star the next week.

*CRASH WAS DEFINITELY SPEED RELATED

By AL IRWIN
Black Press*
/May 10 2007/

Excessive speed, not a speed bump, should be blamed for a serious
accident on 0 Avenue on May 9, says Langley RCMP spokesperson Cpl. Diane
Blain.

Blain said the accident was "definitely" speed-related, and it is a
driver’s responsibility to adjust speed to road conditions.
At about 10:15 p.m., a 2002 Chevrolet Cavalier with five occupants went
out of control near 272 Street.

A 17-year-old Mission girl was thrown from the car, and is in hospital
suffering serious head injuries, and listed in critical condition.
The 27-year-old driver and his other passengers sustained
non-life-threatening injuries, but were taken to hospital for treatment.
Aldergrove resident Ed Monteith told Black Press that he has spoken with
two other residents who witnessed a portion of the crash from home, or
arrived at the scene shortly after it occurred.

Monteith was among residents opposed to the installation of the speed
bumps, and collected the signatures of 671 area residents also against
the traffic controls.
Monteith said he was told the car was travelling at high speed west on 0
Avenue, hit the bump and nosed into it, then "catapulted end over end
and may have flipped again."
"There is going to be a political mess over this," said Monteith, who
said he will do everything in his power to make the crash an issue.
"There is no good reason to sentence a speeder to death," he said.
Monteith said the speed bumps equate to not marking a bridge that is out.
"On a snowy road, you can’t see it, and it is the last thing a person
from out of town would expect on a dark night."
"They (bumps) should be dug up."
"That’s not my take on it," said Cpl. Blain.
She said the car, travelling at the speed indicated by the consequences,
could have lost control for any number of reasons.
"He rolled over and rolled over and rolled over and hit a hydro pole,
severed the pole in three places, then landed on the U.S. side."
Blain said the poles are "very sturdy" and she had never seen one as
badly damaged as this one was.
"He must have hit it with such force. . . it is an indication that he
must have been going at an incredible speed."
Blain said the speed bumps are well marked in advance, but travelling at
such speed the driver may not have seen the warning signs.
"It is up to the drivers to adjust their speed, (to safely navigate road
conditions) Blain said.
"What if a kid was playing on the road and this guy was at Mach speed.
We are very supportive of these speed bumps. That’s the police
perspective," Blain said.
Township Councillor Bob Long was opposed to the installation of the
speed bumps, and made a protracted bid at council to halt them.
Long said Thursday that he intends to ask that rumble strips be
installed in advance of the speed bumps.
The driver and another 17-year-old female passenger are from Mission,
the other two female passengers, one 20, the other 15, are from Langley.
Anyone with information about this is asked to contact the Langley RCMP
Traffic Section 604-532-3200.

Ed Monteith had to get his oar in the water as well, of course. He wrote a letter to the editor promising dire consequences, as did a resident of the trailer park.



However, other people wrote in as well - here's one from the Langley Advance.

Zero Avenue: Speed bumps' purpose served

Dear Editor,

Mr. Monteith is correct [Speed bumps too dangerous, May 8 Letters, Langley Advance], dangerous speeders are frowned upon.

They kill people. They cause property damage. They cause all our car insurance rates to increase.

Excessive speed reduces the time the driver has to react to a situation. What do they think is the rationale behind speed limit signs? Do they think some civic engineer just picks the number out of a hat?

How many cases of street racers have we read about lately who have lost control? Not one of them hit a speed bump.

I can't for the life of me see Mr. Monteith's reasoning. Before the speed bumps were put in place, there were speed limit signs on the road. Apparently, some people didn't think those signs applied to them, so they exceeded the speed limit, increasing the potential for accidents. Hence the need to install a further deterrent to try and reduce speeding.

Using Mr. Monteith's logic, we should eliminate stop signs, too, because all they can do is cause rear-end collisions, because the second car isn't prepared to drive his/her vehicle under the rules of the road.

I travel along Zero Avenue once a week, and I have yet to be launched into the air. Why? (Hint: it has something to do with the speed limit and obeying it.)

My worst fear is people with Mr. Monteith's type of logic having any say or control over matters dealing with other people's safety.

Rules are not meant to be broken. Bad habits and poor judgments are.

Hugh Paterson, Langley
 

Zero Avenue: Bump foes' focus wrong

Dear Editor,

It is very unfortunate that several long time foes of the speed bumps on Zero Avenue have chosen to twist the story of a recent car accident to favour their conviction. They are erroneous in calling the control measures dangerous.

The need for slowing the traffic on Zero Avenue was well documented.

The cost of claims to ICBC along the corridor, the accidents, deaths, etc., were eventually dealt with by having bumps installed. The results have been successful.

Input from people with expertise in this field, plus the police who are in the business, helped with the action being taken.

The car that was in the accident [Car flips at U.S. border, May 4, Langley Advance] was travelling at an extreme speed. The RCMP investigation was well done; their take on the event and the cause was entirely in order.

Many thousands of motorists have used the road with bumps, and have not had damage done to their vehicles, despite what some people would have us believe.

The traffic taming "bumps" have helped the previous problems, but not removed them entirely.

Writers of opposing letters would have you believe that, had an airplane fallen from the sky and landed on a speed bump, it would be the speed bump's fault; that concrete barriers on highways should also come out, because many speeders have injured themselves or even worse, others, by running into them.

If this car had passed the speed bump, just a short distance ahead was a right angle corner, lined with concrete barriers. The accident might have occurred there, with much more severe consequences.

Speed bumps and humps have long been used at airports, shopping centres, parking lots, etc., and have been successful. Let's not go backwards - the RCMP have far more expertise in how to deal with speed problems, than the letter-writing experts.

Milt Stein, South Langley