A Creatively Absurd Practice Space

Here in British Columbia there has been a blitz on educating drivers about the hazards of being behind the wheel while distracted. This educational blitz began in response to a number of deaths due to distracted driving, which ultimately led to new legislation that came effect on January 1, 2010.

If you break this law in BC you are fined $167, and either given 3 demerit points or not, depending on whether your offence involved a device that communicates with another person. In other words, talking on a cell phone gets you 3 demerit points. Programming your GPS does not.

Besides enforcing this new law as it applies to cell phones, Blackberry or similar devices, GPS units, handheld microphones, or televisions, the police have started to interpret the law more broadly. They are now pulling people over for things like applying make-up.

BC is not the only province that has enacted distracted driving legislation. On September 1, 2011, our neighbours to the east, Alberta, did so as well. Alberta’s new law is much tougher than BC’s, since the penalties are much stiffer:

Drivers who break the law will be fined $172. They can face additional charges if they commit other traffic violations such as running a red light or making an improper lane change. Drivers can also be charged under the existing driving without due care and attention law, a more serious offence with a fine of $402 and six demerit points.

Given BC and Alberta’s new laws, I find it shocking what I see people doing behind the wheel. I still see drivers routinely: talking on the phone; texting; applying their make-up; reading; oh, and my personal favourite, having heated arguments in heavy traffic on the freeway, at speeds over 110 kph (that’s 68 mph for my American readers).

However, an article in the Daily Buzz, made even this seasoned Lower Mainland driver, wonder about the intelligence of some people who operate motor vehicles. (All I can say is thank God she’s a Calgarian.) 😈

This is how the Daily Buzz’s story goes:

Calgary police ticket hundreds for distracted driving, one woman seen playing sax

Calgary police issued almost 300 distracted driving tickets during the first full month of the new law, but not all the tickets were for people using their phones.

Drivers have also been caught using iPods, DVD players and GPS systems as well as reading and grooming. One woman was even seen playing the saxophone while behind the wheel, [emphasis added] but the complainant didn’t write down the license plate so the woman couldn’t be ticketed.

OK, so is anyone else here curious what kind of saxophone this woman could be playing while driving? Was it an alto? A soprano? A tenor? Surely it couldn’t be a baritone, could it? And we know that it wasn’t a bass. Maybe it was a Soprillo?

Perhaps she was getting ready for her audition, and she was getting some last-minute practice in while sitting in the parking lane that is the freeway? Or maybe she had a big solo that she hadn’t put the finishing touches on. In any event, her actions were just plain daft.

Besides being distracted while driving, there is another safety issue here. Anyone who is playing saxophone in a car while it is moving, runs a serious risk of injury if the car has to make a sudden stop. The injuries would be seriously worse if the car is involved in a crash.

I’m sure you don’t want me to go into the types of injuries a person could sustain if they are playing saxophone in a car, and it is involved in an accident. As a former paramedic, I could describe them in gory detail. Let me just say they’re not pretty. Depending on the speed of the impact, the injuries could be life-threatening, since they potentially involve the airway.

So to sum up, if you must practice saxophone in your car: A) Make sure you are not driving it at the time, and; B) Please ensure that the vehicle is stationary.

And to that woman in Calgary who was playing the sax while driving: If you do ever read this article, consider yourself lucky. Besides not getting dinged with a fine and possible demerit points, you didn’t get a sax mouthpiece and neck lodged in your airway because you had to slam on your brakes or got rear-ended. That would have ruined the rest of your year… or worse