ROTHENBURGER: The sad fact is the Yellowhead Highway is probably unfixable

Jun 6, 2023 | 4:50 AM

‘YOU CAN’T FIX STUPID’ is a saying that’s become popular in the last few years. Whether it originated with Jeff MacNelly, the cartoonist who created the comic strip Shoe, as some claim, or a comedian named Ron White, as others credit, doesn’t matter.

Either might have uttered the line if he’d ever driven the Yellowhead Highway north of Kamloops. Certainly, the folks who witnessed the driver of a semi passing another big rig on a double solid line near Clearwater a few days ago must be thinking it.

If not for quick action on the part of a driver who was heading in the opposite direction, there might have been another Yellowhead tragedy. He saw the two trucks coming, slowed down and pulled over onto the shoulder just in time as they went by.

The incident was captured on dash cam video and made public, resulting in a Transportation Ministry promise to investigate. If the guilty trucker is somehow found, that person should have the book thrown at them.

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The Yellowhead has become legendary as a highway of death. Every time a crash happens, we talk about the need for improvements to the highway, more enforcement and more training for commercial truckers. And then we wait for the next one, which, in this case, will probably happen a few days or, at most, a few weeks from now.

The hope is that if enough corners can be straightened, enough passing lanes put in, enough signage erected, the fatalities will drop because inevitable driver error will be alleviated.

But it’s become obvious that it’s just a dream. No matter how much the Yellowhead is improved, people will continue to drive carelessly and kill themselves and others.

Which leads us to the sad conclusion that the Yellowhead death toll will never end because what’s wrong with it is those who drive it.

And as we like to say nowadays, you can’t fix stupid.

I’m Mel Rothenburger, the Armchair Mayor.

Mel Rothenburger is a regular contributor to CFJC Today, publishes the ArmchairMayor.ca opinion website, and is a recipient of the Jack Webster Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award. He has served as mayor of Kamloops, school board chair and TNRD director, and is a retired newspaper editor. He can be reached at mrothenburger@armchairmayor.ca.

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Editor’s Note: This opinion piece reflects the views of its author, and does not necessarily represent the views of CFJC Today or Pattison Media.

by Mel Rothenburger

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ROTHENBURGER: The sad fact is the Yellowhead Highway is probably unfixable

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