This stretch of road has been terrible all week.

YRB failing to live up to their contract again. The only way to get them to sand or plow is to call to call the Transpotation Dept or let the RCMP call them, then they show up like White Knights. Doo, Wet roads freeze at night, who would have thunk it.

Same thing every time people see bare roads and foot goes deeper on gas pedal then they go into ditch. Then bitch moan and whine that hi-ways isn’t doing their job if you learn to slow down accidents wouldn’t happen as often and less injuries and deaths would occur.

But people are set in their ways and often don’t learn until its too late

Dearth, how long have you worked for YRB and how many bonus cheques have you cashed in the spring from money saved from the plowing/sanding budget.

More people have got to get on the blower and insist on better road maintenance. I’ve made two calls already this season and they probably won’t be my last.

Restjet I grew up a hi-ways brat my dad worked for hi-ways for 33 yrs and it was the same thing every yr soon as an accident happened hi-ways was automatically blamed because they were the obvious target.

I lost count at how many times idiots would in a blinding snow storm or in freezing rain would rush ahead of my dad then force him to the shoulder and chew him out for not plowing earlier, faster or have more trucks on the road.

So tell me Restjet are you one of those idiots because you are sounding awfully a lot like one of those people that would do that put others at risk to vent your frustrations because you are inconvenienced by having to slow down.

But you are right about one thing ill defend hi ways because they do their job but you apparently are convinced they are money grabbers and do no work. I almost pity you

I agree with Dearth – except I dont pity restjet, I pity the people on the road with him and pray its not my family.

I’m with Dearth as well. Safe operation of a vehicle is up to the driver and shouldn’t depend on road conditions. If the roads are crap, slow down or don’t go. Its really that simple.

Darth, the Highways Dept were paid by the hours they worked and YRB is paid a lump sum to maintain the roads, so the less you spend the more you pocket. Real bad incentive. We live 20 Km out of town and where the city plowing ends and YRB takes over it is like night and day. This morning coming into town the YRB section was glare ice (with one vehicle off the road) and as soon as we reached the city section it was bare wet pavement because they had salted last night. The only way we are going to get better service is to contact YRB’s government bosses. We have done it once this year and got a grader out in 12 hours. THE MAGIC NUMBER FOR US WAS 250-565-4410. They will get back to you. Pass the number on maybe they will get sick of all the complaints and do a better job.

Mercenary, I am a class 1 driver who drives for a living (44 years) and I can tell you that I bet that family who lost their relative last night at Bear Lake because there was no sand on the road until after the accident wishes it had been maintained before the accident. YRB always sands her real good at an accident scene.

I agree the timing of YRB in PG is way off most of the time. They don’t seem to be able to manage proactive road maintenance… especially during the early evening times.

Its always a wonder how the roads are so much better once one leaves YRB PG district.

slow down and drive according to road conditions and your personal skill level! keep your vehicle mainained. you are responsible for your life and the lives of others when you get behind the wheel. no one else is to blame for the accidents you cause! Time for drivers to be held accountable….and no I dont work for YRB!

Don’t drink and drive and you’ll do even better!

I too drove trucks for many years. Dearth is right, the sand trucks can’t always be there when road conditions can change IN MINUTES. Its up to all of us to drive safely and according to conditions. I mostly just laugh when I hear drivers’ excuses and blame for accidents. Its never them. I have refused to drive or parked it for awhile when conditions got too bad. People won’t hear of that though, these days, so it must be somebody’s fault, but not theirs.

Class 1 driver here too. Road conditions are poor excuses when it comes to accidents. No one and I mean NO ONE should be soing highway speed limits when conditions are poor. If you are then you are certainly asking for trouble. I’m sorry if that offends people but it’s the simple truth.

The problem is not people driving to fast or bad tires or too much snow. If there is lots of snow on the road, then its usually not that bad because one has a lot of compact snow to get traction on.

When the roads are bad is when there is no sand on the road after a few days of rain washing it all away and the temperature drops to just below freezing with freezing rain or light snow creating a glaze on the road… usually this is in the early evening, mostly in the late fall. It takes nothing to predict when this will happen and to be out there to put some grit down and possibly some salt… that is what they are paid to do. A little bit of grit on the road prior to a predictable black ice event makes all the difference in the world.

HMC in Quesnel does a great job of this. They watch the satellite radar image off the internet from their office and time their trucks to be on scene when the ice is forming. Why can’t YRB do it… is it because they got a bunch of drunks in charge and have to sober up first, reacting rather than proactive management?

For the record I get by no matter what the conditions and have never had an incident (yet) and have never had to stop for weather. I have however seen a lot of needless carnage that was not necessary and a lot of neglect on the part of YRB when they should have been on the job, but were not. When they go 6-hours into a major weather event with no trucks on the road it is neglect. It happens all the time.

We can spend all day trying to point fingers at YBR or CRS or whomever else for not maintaining the roads. It still won’t change the fact that you need to drive according to conditions. Until people get that little tidbit through their thick skulls then there will still be carnage no matter what conditions are out there.