The Chilliwack
Progress Tuesday
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Author offers hope and help for dyslexics.
Barbecue fans won’t want to miss this.
Epic overtime win for Chiefs over the Vees.
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Twin pipeline ‘double the trouble’ says resident Robert Freeman The Progress
Continued: PIPELINE/ p16
Portion of the Kinder Morgan pipeline running through a Sardis neighbourhood near Watson and Canterbury Drive. GOOGLE MAPS
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Kathy Corrigan, NDP opposition critic for public safety, speaks to seniors during the DriveABLE town hall meeting at Tzeachten Hall on Thursday. JENNA HAUCK/ PROGRESS
Seniors vent about new driving test Elderly drivers offered road test option, p.17 Jennifer Feinberg The Progress The town hall meeting was a sea of grey-haired citizens in Chilliwack Thursday, with some experiencing a profound sense of loss. It was the loss of driving freedom for some, after decades of safety behind the wheel. More than 150 people showed up to Tzeachten Hall, and several rose to take the microphone to vent about the controversial DriveABLE program in B.C. and its impact on their lives. DriveABLE is a tool to identify drivers over 80 whose medical conditions may make it unsafe to for them to drive. NDP public safety critic
Kathy Corrigan told the crowd she and other MLAs had personally taken certain sections of the controversial DriveABLE test to see what it was like — and passed. “But it wasn’t easy,” said Corrigan, Burnaby-Deer Lake MLA. Many of the attendees had probing questions and complaints about DriveABLE, administered by the Office of the Superintendent of Motor Vehicles. Only about 15 per cent pass the in-office assessment, and that’s reportedly because the family doctor has already identified some cognitive issues. Another 45 per cent of the results are deemed “inconclusive” and required to take the
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on-road test. Several of the speakers who attended said they drove professionally before retirement, and at least one was a pilot. They found out only about 60 per cent of drivers actually pass the on-road portion. The shock of failing the test and dealing with the lifechanging loss of their driver’s licence came up more than once. “I don’t think anyone in this room would want people who should not be driving to continue to drive,” said Corrigan. “But we want to make sure that the process is fair and that the test is fair.” She said she’d be taking the stories from Chilliwack and beyond directly to the provincial minister in charge, Justice Minister Shirley Bond,
and urged attendees to write their MLAs, the minister and the Superintendent of MV. Minister Bond has said in relation to DriveABLE that it represents: “the best assessment” they have to determine cognitive ability behind the wheel. Corrigan said she got a chance to experience the computerized test when a DriveABLE unit was brought into the legislature. Although no specific computer experience is needed according to program administrators, the MLA said computer-related anxiety or stress suffered by some elders is enough to make them “freeze up” when using the touch screen and pushing buttons. Continued: DRIVE/ p10
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A pipeline carrying crude oil under residential properties in Chilliwack is no particular concern to homeowners contacted by The Progress last week. But neither homeowner was aware of the proposed twinning of the pipeline by Kinder Morgan. “I can’t see them twinning it through a residential area,” said one of the homeowners, who asked not to be identified. “That’s double the trouble,” he said. Construction of a second pipeline might cause him to lose fruit trees he had planted in the backyard, close to the pipeline right-of-way, he said. The second homeowner said she never had any problems with Kinder Morgan during the six years she had lived on the property, although she needed company approval to build a deck so it would not infringe on the right-of-way. About the possible twinning of the pipeline? “Come back and see me then,” she said. The pipeline has operated since 1950 without an incident in Chilliwack, and Kinder Morgan officials said it is the safest way to move large volumes of oil.