2012 has been an interesting year...Leslie got a new job and is now working for BC Transplant as an Organ Donation Coordinator and Organ Donation Specialist.
Cheryl continues to do well in her police career and we got engaged. Wedding will be next August 2013. More info please read below.
Cheryl and I met in 1997 in Bellingham, Washington. We kept in touch over the year via the internet plus flying back and forth. Before we both knew it I moved all the way across the country to a new country no less in march 1998 and been here ever since. I, meaning Leslie grew up in New York on Long Island where her family still remains except my brother.
Went to College in upstate NY and grad school back on Long Island where I got my Masters Degree in Social Work. In 1999 I started working as an Intensive Care Unit Social Worker at St. Paul's Hospital in Vancouver, BC and loved my job after all those years.
Cheryl grew up in the lower mainland of BC and many of her family members are here as well. Beautiful place to grow up and go to school. Throughout Cheryl's teenage years and adulthood she worked for her mother's family business. However, at the ripe old age of 35 she decided to embark upon a career in law enforcement which she has been enjoying for over 5 years. Cheryl has found a passion within the Police force working with kids in schools.
We have been together as partner's for 15 years and after Cheryl graduated Depot (Police Training) we both got motorcycles and our licenses. I grew up on bikes and Cheryl always wanted to learn to ride. Learning was easy for Cheryl and getting back on a bike for me just made sense. Cheryl thinks I am obsessed with bikes but to be honest once she is on the road I can't stop her.
Cheryl loves video games, I love wild life, Cheryl dreams about white sandy tropical beaches, I dream about seeing the polar bears in Hudson Bay, Manitoba.
Opposites attract and we both share a passion for adventure motorcycle touring. We learned this after buying our first 2010 BMW F650GS bikes. We travel well together making sure we are both taking care of ourselves. Cheryl is the brains, mechanic, navigator and packer, I am the organizer/planner.
Cheryl is the quiet one, I am the loud New Yorker. Cheryl loves video games, I love live web cams featuring Bald Eagles, Falcons, osprey's and Owls. In the end it seems to work.
may put things into perspective how slowing down a little can make a difference. 
I live in Victoria. A lot of the material presented in TAC and other ads relating to road safety have been “doctored” to create an impression different from reality.
In this case, if the cars brake at the same rate (a function of tyre grip, brake pressure and ABS operation), therefore with the same and constant deceleration (-a) and cover the same distance (x), then the difference between the squares of the final and initial velocities must be the same. They are not.
I would like to see the times and distances given, and also multiple trials with drivers swapped between the cars, before I would give any credence to the figures.
However, even given the above, I drove on a simulator for learners (1991) in country Victoria. The scenario presented was of a main street. I drove at 60. A corner came up and we entered a street with cars parked on both sides. I automatically slowed so I could see signs of activity (brake lights, exhaust movement or smoke, balls or toys rolling or moving into view). I was remonstrated with and told I had to drive at the speed limit. I replied that the reason why I hadn’t hit other cars and people was I learned to adjust my speed to conditions. I was told that’s not the way it’s done.
If you examine the change in legislation re driving in Victoria, it supports blind adherence to inflexible laws but does not support driver responsibility. An example is the use of speed cameras to detect and fine driving as little as 3 km/hr over the speed limit (yet design rules for earlier cars permits +/- 10% for speedometers). The offence is detected but not notified until weeks later. But poor and dangerous driving often goes undetected (driving in emergency lanes, tailgating, erratic lane changing, speeding between cameras) as there are few police on the road.
Sorry, but I’m passionate about road safety and speed cameras (in particular) have brought into disrepute a system which led the world with seat-belt legislation and random breath tests and so brought about dramatic decreases in the road toll. MUARCs current position seems to be lowering speed limits will solve all problems (“Speed kills” campaign) yet our safest roads have the highest speed limits.
great points…I wonder though the roads with high speed limits have density regarding populations and cars?
Our safest roads are freeways (very similar to US Interstates) with 110 km/hr. Freeways with 100 km/hr are not as safe. The density is not a factor in the safety stakes, rather the road engineering and lack of grade crossings. In fact, accidents which do occur on them often happen at times of low traffic density, usually because of speed differentials.
An interesting book, old but still relevant, written by an engineer, is “Prevent or Punish”. One interesting fact pointed out is that because most humans are “right-eyed” (i.e. have a dominant right eye), simply switching to RHD throughout the world would lower fatalities by up to 15% as more correct overtaking decisions would be made.