Page 10, Whhby Free Prosa, Wednesdy, April 3,1996 'Common Sense on our Hiîghways' Whitby resident ives te factso rucksft A Whitby truck driver Je try to U"set the record straigh aN misconceptions about truck safety Bilan Little last year formed the 'Campaignfor Common Sense on our Hihwiays, a coali- tion of truck drivers aîming to improve highway safety "through education, common sense and truth.» Little, an owner-operator with 16 years of experience says his quest was to inform tl.e public about the «realities of our indus-. try." Shortly after starting the cain- paign, he met Leo Vinette, also "frustrated» b misconceptions, who unde;k Zaletter-writing campaLgn Also contributing were ev in Jennings and Don Bell. They work with the media to «ensure accurate reporting of truck-related incidents to lessen the sensationalism and hype we are currently experiencing...» They niote that only six per cent of ail traffic fatalities invol- ved tractor-trailers,, and of those, 71 per cent were the fault of the other motorist. The group with representa- tives froma over Ontario, says the government should be press- ured t improve licensing_ and mandator7y education standards for ail vehicle classes. That wouid include tougher recQurements for drivinq achools and trainers te emphasize high- way drving and truck awareness in their prograins. Te goverrnent should imjpie- ment a set of minimum freight rates for shippers and owner- operators, says the group, te provide enough money in the industry te, mairitain minimum safety standards. Shippers -must be mfade accountable for weights reason- able delivery schedufes and, handling of their freight,- the group urges.- They also encourage an in- crease in winter road main- tenance. Little says. the governmenit «la not solving the problem, in fact they are excaiating it." He says anyone wanting more information can write te hlm at 6 Parkview'Bivd., Whitby, LIN M. No decision on sChool iclýosing PERSONAL & SMALL BUSINESS TAX RETURNS E MAIL AGENT PROM PAGE 1 projected population of 730 pupiJs and 11 portables by the year 2000. advertisement Chidron are our future. WorkshopS at Loblaws Picky About Pizza? Think iwould be fun to decorate a cake? Loblaws at 3 100 Al Garden St. at Rossland Rd. is 'Vs ~currently booking workshops and store tours with kids who0 can see and learn make and eat their how to two favorite foods-Pizza & Cake. Build your own Spiendido Pizza and top it off just the way you like it. Decorate a cake for upcoming occasions. Workshops. & Tours are available for ai4 school ages., groups or ýorganizations. For more 1informati Loblaws -has ion on what to offer our children, cali Loblaws, 3 100 Giarden St. 430-9358. The numbers left Whitby p arents and Whitby trustee Doug BRoss perplexed& since one of Île main -justifications for building 'Broughton was to relieve overcrowIng anId reduce the number of portbes at Prn- gle Creek Public Schooi.' "That's weird. Here we are building a school. that people in Whitby are fighting, saying we don't need,, and which probably we didn't --I and now weýre going across the street virtuaiiy and ciosing down another school because we don't need the school. S«Is. Whitby a growth area or isn't it? 1 think it is and I think itvs wrong te close the achool.» B oss3 said he had probiems not only with the report but with the lack of public participation in preparing it. 8I' a matter of accountability. Somewhere aiong the lime we have ;: realize whose school board this is... we have te, come up wth a better way te arrive at tee decisions and solutions. "We have te, include our tax- payera and our families in this.» «What ]Pm attempting te do is take this report in its entirety and throw it in the garbage,, said Oshawa trustee Mîke Nicholson, who moved that no further action be taken on it. He promised te foilow up with notice te brin* forward a motion te change ard policy #7113. That poli states, in part, that the board should look at cloSing schools where enrolment has fal- ion to 160 pupils (ldndergarten te Grade 6 achools) or 200 (kmn- dergarten te Grade 8 schools) - or where the schooi is operating at lees than 60. per cent of board-rated capacity. (Under that. criteria,' severai arents noted Hutchison, a kmn- ~eratn te drade 6 scholwith 174 students, shouldn't be on the list.) Ninety minutes -of procedural wrangling foilowed, with commit- tee chair Faith Neumann, Q ffering a Il insolvency services including personal & corporate bankruptcies OSHAWA 122 Albert St. 721-7506 AJAX: 50 Commercial Ave. 619-1473 CPOBOURG: 72 King St W.,372-4744 Saturday & evening appointments available. FREE. initial coqnsultation. apparently confuaed, freuently turning to interim director Clarence Prins for advioe on what trustees* could and couidn't legally do. Her solicitations came mn res- ponse to numerous points of order from Whitby-trustee Patty Bowman, advice on parliainen-,- tary procedure froin Oshawa truste Ken Ridge and. repeated, attempts by Nicholson to reword hie motion to satisfy objections. After hie' motion to. postpone indefinitély, consideration of the report failed to attract the required two-thirds majority, Nicholson settled for the-policy suspension and receive and file motion. Heaccpted the motion after receiving assurances staff would suspend action on the report. Nicholson said after the meet- ing that his motions bought time to. aiert the public ,.to what's going on. «'We are putting a committee together in Oshawa -- 'Save the Oshawa-Whitby Schools' -- to try to get as many schools and tax- payera possible involved and stop this." Nicholson *says the report-was originally brought forward in an im-camera meeting, in response to a trustee's motion. "It was my opinion that it was put in there to be hidden --it was' myrmotion to make it public.'1 "Now it's public and it's inter- estini twas given (to trustees) on a Frday 50 the public didn't know about it. ., They were going to try and slip this one through... and hope- fully the more this story comes out, the more people wiil get involved.» JAMES R. YANCH READING, wR1TING Adulte loQking for help with reading and writing akille, cSn get one.-t;o-one tutoring or classrom lessons. Cail 725- 4786. 3100 Garden St. 430-9358 ý, JAMES R., YANCH -