“No further Detail” About 4 Cadet Deaths – What Detail?
When part of an exclusive group, whether military or corporate, your actions of negligence or worst, are often shielded from public accountability because you are part of a special club of influence, not much different than the “old boys club”.
A spokesperson for the Canadian Armed forces was reportedly quoted as saying “no further detail can be provided at this time” with respect to the death of four cadets at the Royal Military College in Kingston, Ontario. Detail? Are we kidding. What detail was provided? No a single piece of information was disclosed except that four cadets died, and that a green vehicle was removed from the water at Point Fredrick. How enlightening.
Who was responsible for monitoring the activities of the cadets on this date and time? How did the “green vehicle” enter the water and was it equipped to protect its occupants in such an occurrence? What roadside safety devices were installed at the site to prevent a military vehicle from accidentally entering the water. The unanswered questions could go on and on.
In many instances there is little information that can be disclosed in the early hours of a death investigation. On the other hand there have been numerous instances where weeks, months and years have passed and no information of any substance has ever been released in certain deaths. It makes for situations where certain individuals can claim immunity from prosecution for their negligence, or worst, because they are members of select clubs of influence. Where will the current “incident” stand in this meandering approach to justice?
Who is Monitoring Highway 401 Collisions & Ensuring Repairs Done in Timely Fashion?
It is easy to get information on the effectiveness of high-tension cables barriers especially from those organizations who either sell them or use them on their highway systems. But what about information that demonstrates their in-service performance and whether the barriers are being repaired in a timely fashion? Silence.
Equally, it is possible to obtain information about the number of collisions occurring on Ontario’s Highway 401 if one has an infinite amount of timee to follow collision reporting provided across the whole Province of Ontario on its 511 system. But monitoring what is happening on specific problem areas such as the infamous “Carnage Alley” between London and Tilbury is virtually impossible because only the most minimal information is provided to the public.
A recent travel through Carnage Alley by Gorski Consulting in early April, 2022, revealed several locations where the cable barrier was damaged from unknown collisions, as shown in the photos below.
What kind of collisions resulted in this damage is unknown. And how long the damaged barriers have remained damaged is unknown.
A long-time proponent of concrete barrier installation on Highway 401 in her Chatham, Ontario area, Alysson Storey, recently noted in a response on Twitter that “I have found it much more difficult to track collisions in Carnage Alley the last 2-3 years. But even keeping a basic running list is better than nothing.”
It is not clear why this greater difficulty has come about. Are police and official news agencies being helpful in providing information about these collisions? How would anyone know? Are the newly installed cable barriers performing as expected? How would the public know when there is no information about the issue?
What we can say from our own observation is that certain collision repairs along Highway 401 are not being made in a timely fashion. For example, on December 3, 2021 we observed the damage to an ET-Plus guardrail terminal on the north side of the westbound lanes of Highway 401 just west of Highbury Ave in London, as shown in the photo below.
This terminal was not repaired until the afternoon of May 2, 2022, as shown in our photo below.
This delay of five months means that, anyone who might strike the terminal would be exposed to an unknown level of performance, most probably a degraded level of performance. But who would know of this delay unless someone was actually monitoring it?
So what about those damaged sections of cable barrier on Highway 401 in Carnage Alley? How long have they remained damaged after they were struck? In Alysson Storey’s experience the repairs should be performed much sooner (and she is right):
“I know in certain states there is a specific time frame (eg 2 weeks) that damaged cables must be repaired by. I don’t know if ON has the same standards, although I sincerely hope so. Once a cable is damaged, the entire segment is useless. So we’re back to square one.”
What may happen when a vehicle strikes a damaged cable barrier is unpredictable. It depends on the characteristics of the vehicle, its speed, the angle of approach, and so on. But clearly we should not be using the public as guinea pigs in such experiments.
E-Bike Rider Injury & Death: An Emerging Safety Problem of the Future
An e-bike rider with a death wish. In late April, 2022, this southbound rider on Highbury Ave crossed the busy intersection at Trafalgar Street in London on a red light and then continued at high speed along the east sidewalk toward the busy intersection at Hamilton Road. How prepared are we for such incidents?
News media have reported that shortly before 2320 hours on April 4th, 2022, the rider of an e-bike was struck by a hit-&-run motor vehicle in the area of Toro Road and Keele Street in Toronto, Ontario. The rider reportedly sustained life-threatening injuries. Understandably no information was provided about how the collision occurred because the investigation is in its early stages. However, as noted in almost all previous occasions, no information will ever be revealed including how the rider sustained his/her injuries.
Unfortunately this is the sign of the times and an indication of what is to come in the not too distant future. E-bikes or E-cycles are becoming more common. E-cyclists not only ride on city streets but also on sidewalks. Ontario’s Ministry of Transportation has made it illegal for cyclists to ride on sidewalks because of the dangers they say exist including the fact that cyclist speeds are substantially higher than the walking speeds of pedestrians. Yet observations by Gorski Consulting indicate that at least 50 percent of cyclists continue to ride on sidewalks, regardless of the law. This suggests that, despite what the Ministry is saying, cycling on the sidewalk may be safer for cyclists than sharing a lane with motor vehicle traffic. But there is likely to be an added complication to this discussion.
Observations by Gorski Consulting indicate that those who ride e-cycles travel at substantially higher speeds than the average cyclist using pedal power. E-cycles are also substantially heavier, especially if they are also carrying cargo. This combination of higher speed and higher mass means that travelling on the sidewalk, or roadside, will present new safety challenges that few appreciate. If motorists found it difficult to react to a pedal-powered cyclist on the sidewalk travelling at 10 km/h, the problem will be exacerbated when an e-cyclist’s speed is 25 or 30 km/h. That higher speed and mass will also come into effect if collisions should occur with pedestrians, particularly the elderly or children.
There is a large impetus for various jurisdictions in North America to increase cycling volumes, partially due to climate change issues. Cycling groups are also highlighting the benefits of cycling versus motor vehicles. But little is being done to recognize that the environment in which cyclists will be travelling is not compatible, and that cyclist collisions, as poorly documented as they already are, will become more prevalent and more severe in the not too distant future.
Not Enough Radicalization & Intolerance?
This image posted on our Twitter account was meant to warn cyclists of an important danger that would not be apparent to them. Instead many radicalized cyclists took it as blaming cyclists for causing their injury and death.
Recently Gorski Consulting attempted to convey an important safety message to cyclists with a short Twitt. This was based on the results of real-life collisions that were reconstructed by Gorski Consulting. What resulted was an angry response from many who decided the message was blaming cyclists for the existence of the safety problem.
This is just another example, of many, where the internet has created new armies of radical and intolerant beings who can no longer assess matters calmly and objectively. It represents a new development of our time where persons become indoctrinated within their village of fellow believers, unwilling and incapable of understanding an alternative viewpoint. These are psychological matters that need the intervention of specialists in human behavior who can explain what is taking place. Yet the word of specialists on many important issues, whether from the medical, engineering or general scientific communities has been suppressed by the general noise of the internet. It is just as easy for some village shaman to use seductive messaging that pleases what the crowd wants to hear rather than the dry logic of science that is often too complex for the average person to understand. This is an evolving development and its resolution is uncertain. But mass hysteria is a dangerous thing.
Red Hill Valley Parkway Inquiry – The Secrecy Continues?
Millions of dollars have already been spent by the participants of the Red Hill Valley Parkway Inquiry. Yet, after two years of further delay the City of Hamilton, which could be held responsible for the hiding of an engineering report, now wants to hide some documents and wants the decision to be made behind closed doors.
After two years of silence the Red Hill Valley Parkway (RHVP) Inquiry has recommenced with an attempt by the City of Hamilton to keep back certain documents. No one will know what those documents are because the decision to withhold will be made “in camera” or behind closed doors, as noted on the Commission’s website below:
“Update March 30, 2022
The City of Hamilton has delivered a notice of motion for directions. The motion asks the Commissioner to appoint a designate to determine whether or not certain documents are protected by a form of legal privilege and, therefore, the City need not produce them to the Inquiry. The City is also asking the Commissioner to direct the designate to hear the motion in camera and that any motion materials be filed with redactions to protect information that may be privileged.
If any members of the media or public wish to make submissions to the Commissioner about the motion for directions, please contact lead Commission Counsel Robert A. Centa at [email protected] no later than noon on April 6, 2022.”
How would anyone know whether to object to this proceeding without knowing something about what documents are to be held secret? How would anyone know whether to object if there is no information about who the “designate” will be? It can be noted that the City of Hamilton created the Commission in the first place and they placed limits/controls on how it would operate. Yet the City of Hamilton could be one of the entities held at fault for concealing engineering reports about the possible sub-standard conditions of the RHVP. By this time almost all Hamilton citizens will have gone off to “more interesting” topics of the day, guaranteeing that no public outcry would occur even if there is something nefarious occurring.
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