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Opinion: Obnoxious drivers abuse Burnaby traffic cops just like they do to flaggers

It took about two minutes for drivers to set their hair on fire this morning (Tuesday).
burnaby traffic inspection
Drivers were freaking out when Burnaby RCMP and other agencies blocked some lanes on Gaglardi Way for a commercial vehicle inspection Tuesday morning. Chris Campbell photo

It took about two minutes for drivers to set their hair on fire this morning (Tuesday).

Burnaby RCMP and other agencies kicked off a three-day blitz of commercial vehicle inspections (I’ll have more on this later today) by blocking some lanes on Gaglardi Way, just south of Lougheed Highway.

This required drivers to simply merge into a single lane on each side. You would think this would be a simple task that would only take up an extra couple of minutes of people’s time.

You would be wrong.

I stood and watched as driver after driver did the scumbag thing and snuck up to the very end of the second lane before finally merging (this is a terrible moral choice to make – go to the end of the line like all the rest of the decent human beings).

The other drivers were not pleased. They swore. They waved their fists. They shook their heads.

Some refused to let these slimy drivers into the lane, which led vehicles coming dangerously close to rubbing paint.

“Many drivers don’t know how to merge,” said Const. Kevin Connolly of the Burnaby RCMP traffic enforcement section.

I spoke to Connolly in the middle of all of this chaos as inspectors and police officers were pulling over commercial vehicles.

Connolly said drivers don’t just vent at other drivers – they verbally assault police officers as well at these inspection sites.

“Drivers swear at us,” he said. “We’re doing all of this to make our roads safer. It’s just a few extra minutes added to their day, but they don’t think of that.”

This was shocking to me. I thought it was just flaggers who get abused by drivers. I’m stunned that drivers have the gall to yell at police, unless they don’t realize that’s who they are.

This is the world we live in. A few minutes of inconvenience is really worth displaying this kind of terrible behaviour?

Follow Chris Campbell on Twitter @shinebox44.