I feel a little naive. I always thought that the "L" on the back of cars meant "Learners" but forgive me if I now think that it might mean "Liberal." If I see an "L" I now jump out of the worried that it might be some Liberal candidate out campaigning, and that might be a dangerous thing.
The news last Friday that three Liberal candidates have had trouble with driving regulations raises some interesting questions.
Solicitor General John van Dongen lost his license for excessive speeding, Vancouver-West End candidate Laura McDiarmid has at least 12 driving infractions, and Jesse McClinton, Liberal candidate in Victoria-Swan Lake, was charged with drinking and driving; of course, the Premier himself has a less-than-stellar driving record.
Add to that Transportation Minister Kevin Falcon's muscle car fetish, and do we see a trend developing? What is it about Liberals and their cars?
Of course, there are always excuses: McClinton took the already established "I'm guilty, please forgive me" tack of his boss. Van Dongen seems to make a similar case suggesting that a half-hearted apology is good enough (although by Monday afternoon the publicity forced him to step down from his position as minister in charge of policing), while McDiarmid seemed to suggest that speeding and reckless driving was just part of her job as a limo driver -12 tickets? Keep me away from that car, please.
I'm not going to pretend that I don't speed. My family will tell you that I am, on occasion, way too aggressive in my highway driving, we all are at sometime, I think; but I've been driving for 30 years and I've driven in at least eight countries, for three years I drove professionally -one year as a taxi driver in Whistler and two year couriering in Vancouver -and I've had one speeding ticket. Maybe I'm lucky, or maybe I'm smarter than these guys, but I think it's something more fundamental.
Psychologist Leon James, author of Road Rage and Aggressive Driving says that people who exceed the speed limit don't believe that they are speeding. They may recognize that they are breaking the law, but the speed that they're doing falls within their risk tolerance and within the realm of what they believe is appropriate.
It seems to me that Dr. James is saying is that these people think of themselves somehow above the law or perhaps better determiners of what the law ought to be.
Of course, if you're running for public office you need a little arrogance and swagger. How else is it possible to get up and sell yourself day after day? Our political landscape is littered with those who lacked the necessary arrogance.
And the Liberal government has a history of ignoring things they see as inconvenient and bullying their way through issues. Whether it's breaking of contracts of public sector unions, the imposition of the infamous gag law or the Orwellian Bill 75 -the Significant Projects Streamlining Act, the Liberal have shown little respect for fairness.
I wonder if the driving records are just another manifestation of that? I'm not sure, but I am starting to worry about what all those "Ns" on the backs of cars mean.
