TESTING 70 YEAR OLD DRIVERS

That's my ride, a 2007 MX5, and my female passenger hidden in the reflection is my sweetheart of 46 years of marriage. We are looking out to the Gulf Islands. Driving in the open air and with the sun on our faces is one of the pleasures of our lives.

I heard someone say that the provincial government of B.C. was going to legislate that driver retesting would begin at age 70 and be repeated every two years. Public safety must be maintained. Of course it does. Do you think this is the place to begin?

Well sorry, but the closer one is to three score and ten or if you are 70 as I am or even a bit older than that, one tends to react with irritation.

A defence response kicks in. Sure I am 70 but I can still do math. I can read posted speed limits and I can read my dashboard data. This is the year that I should be retested if the program was already in effect. I might have to do a written as well as an actual motor vehicle street exam.

I used to drive truck for a living, both during college days and later full time before I obtained my first job as a church pastor. In Toronto I could drive a large Sears truck downtown, whip across a road when the Sears flagman stopped traffic and I could back up fast into a truck elevator with 3 inch clearance on each side mirror. I have always taken driving seriously and been diligent about observing good driving habits. I have driven in blinding snow storms on the worst of road conditions without negative incident. But that was then.

What about now? Has anything changed? Perhaps. The eyes are not what they used to be. The reactions perhaps a touch slower. I understand the concerns. But wait a minute. There are tens of thousands of drivers much younger than I who have poor driving habits and drive foolishly and even recklessly. There are inexperienced, unqualified and careless drivers of every age against whose driving I must daily be a defensive driver. Why, by virtue of age should teens, twenty-somethings, thirty, forty, fifty and sixty year olds be exempt for decades from testing beyond the initial exam that granted them their license?  There is an equity issue here. Fair play demands that statistics and medicine and wisdom combine to produce a piece of legislation that truly addresses public safety on our roads.

          Application

Test 70 plus drivers every two years. Fine! Re-examine every other driver every three years. Test drivers of trucks and buses for their specific licenses every three years as well.

APRIL FOOLS - BOTH OF US

KADENCE AND PAPA

Out for an afternoon walk, she needed to stop for a crazy photo of the two of us. 

EASTER SUNDAY FAMILY BRUNCH CELEBRATION

 As we have done in past years, Christine and I reserved a table for eleven at the Northview Golf and Country Club Buffet. Our five grandchildren eagerly look forward to eating their favourite indulgences and to getting their faces painted, and watching the slight of hand by one of the best magicians in the business. The six adults in our family group also anticipate being able to sample the variety of savouries and sweets. And the day itself, absolutely stellar, clear sky, bright sun, spring blossoms and flowers and weatherman promises of more days of the same. I love doing this for us all but not sure that the economy of it will be manageable after this year. That's life.

Back to two taxes on all items starting today, Monday. As much as people may not have liked GST, this reversion to the tax system is going to be a pain in the neck. And the redo, I remind you is due to the Liberal Party in power bungling yet another business item. The inept quotient of this government is demonstrably high. We have a provincial election in a couple of weeks and presently the Liberals are running behind the New Democrats which may not be the solution to ineptitude. NDP's track record as a party in power is abysmal here in B.C. So the sun is shining again today but it's grey on the horizon.

That, having been said, Easter Weekend was all about Jesus Christ. This is not an afterthought, even though I may have left that impression. Rather, Good Friday, as is customary, observed the events of that day when Jesus was executed by a first-century Roman form of punishment. His body was removed from the cross and placed into a secure tomb. I was invited to preach at Port Coquitlam Chinese Church and Pastor Tin Pong So was my interpreter. The seeming finality of Christ's death was affected supernaturally by almighty God's purpose for Jesus' incarnation, that is, that sin should be atoned, that death should be conquered and thereby Satan could no longer win victories in human lives. All that was accomplished on the morning that Jesus rose to life again, and appeared to more than 500 people over a space of many days. On Easter Sunday morning, Jeff and Gina and their children Kale and Kadence, and Cari and Tim and their children, Kailyn, Ryan and Jayden attended church in the Cloverdale plant located in the Clova Theatre. Christine and I attended our Fort Langley Evangelical Free Church service. Later we met at Northview.


Everyone came back to our Carriage Home for the afternoon. Kids found easter eggs that Grandma placed outside around the complex. The rest of us sat and sipped and talked and enjoyed a delightful day. To God be the Glory.