Letter to the Minister of Transportation

To the Honourable Donna Cansfield:

My name is Alanna Brousseau and I am a 19-year-old student attending Humber College for Journalism. I am not addressing you regarding anything school related, but rather on the issue of truck drivers.

Recently, a young girl from my high school, as well as her sister died in a horrific car accident involving a truck driver. Vanessa DiCeglie and her sister Isabel were only 19 and 23, respectively. The driver was unharmed, but Vanessa died at the scene and Isabel a couple days later in the hospital. Such young lives should not have to be surrendered at the hands of irresponsibility and neglect. Something must be done.

I have also encountered situations with aggressive and careless truck drivers. Whether it was the time I sat in the driver’s seat of my car, terrified, listening to the loud honks and profanities of the driver behind me. I also recall a time I was driving on Old Church road and was about to turn right onto Highway 50. Just as the light turned green for me to turn, a giant 18-wheeler flew right by me through the stale red light. Good thing I looked both ways.

This is an issue that has been bothering me for some time, but until now I have remained silent. Today as I was driving to school, an 18-wheeler passed me, and I couldn’t help but notice the magazine that was propped up on his steering wheel as he was flipping through the pages. This is unacceptable.

My father works in the construction industry and is on the road anywhere from eight to twelve hours a day or night. If something were to ever happen to him at the hands of a careless truck driver, I’m afraid of what I would do. I am worried for the safety of my family, my friends, myself, and simply anyone that has to drive on our roads.

I hope this letter has opened your eyes a little bit to the seriousness of this issue. Though I’m sure for you it may be a small chore on an endless list of things to do, it is extremely important to myself as well as many other concerned drivers in Ontario.

Thank you,

Sincerely,

Alanna Brousseau