On 24 Jul 10 ant approx 4:25 pm, my family and I observed an action that was unsafe and contravened the NB Motor Vehicle Act. While travelling South on the Trans Canada between Lincoln Road and Oromocto West turn off, we noticed flashing red and blue lights behind us. We first noticed at the divider approx 2 km from the turn off. We were in traffic and cars were passing us. As we got beside the Oromocto River, the car was approx ½ km away from us. Cars in the rear were pulling over, and some in the front of us were too. I had time to pull over and enter the Oromocto West Exit instead of crossing it, keeping on the shoulder. At the same time an unknown white truck pulled beside and to the rear of us, I had difficulty seeing as it was in my blind spot. I remarked to my wife that some idiot was blocking the exit and if I were not so careful I could have cut into him as he stayed into my blind spot. The driver all but stopped and allowed me to pull in front. I thought nothing of it and would never get upset at another's driving. In fact I pulled away without incident until I got into a tight turn and saw the Bison's head in my mirror. Fine for a civilian, but for the RCMP, very irresponsible and a very unsafe act. Are these officers not aware of the NB motor vehicle act requiring vehicles to pull over to the extreme right when emergency vehicles are approaching. People do make mistakes, unfortunately when it is people like me we get tickets, as for the RCMP, they are accountable to no one. I am hoping to change that by being accountable to taxpayers such as myself through complaints. I stopped at the end of the exit (I had a yield and they had a stop sign). I asked the passenger (in uniform) if he saw the emergency vehicle approaching. He answered that they did, I asked why they stopped on the ramp in my blind side where I could have hit them has I pulled back on to the road. He said “maybe you should be the one paying attention” then he quickly said that “since everything was fine so we should go on our way”. I did not want to appear as though I was having road rage or harassing the officer so I went on my way as directed.
What we have here is 4 impressionable kids in my van and 2 parents that see the RCMP act irresponsibly by blocking the off the ramp and also blaming me, who carefully pulled over to the right side of the road. The tone and comment of the officer is not what I expect Depot to produce and leads me to wonder what we are getting for our money. Had the officer explained that they were careful, or caught off guard and thanked me for my comments, it would have remained at that. After discussing with my wife and children, we decided that this warrants sending in a complaint.
This isn't the first time that we have been treated in a manner less respectable from an RCMP member, and by far we have witnessed some of the most horrible driving from your members I have seen in my 28 years on the road. I will not dwell on the past, but this is a guarantee that in the future we will inform the chain of command what is happening. To summarize, we have observed extreme speeding in Oromocto and the Trans Canada, officers responding to calls at a high rate of speed without emergency equipment activated and condescending behaviour directed at my wife and myself, at traffic stops or if we try to interact in the community. Recently we had a fire in our neighbourhood and I stopped to talk to the Constable about it as I had information and was looking to see if there was anything he could tell me. He really seemed annoyed that I was bothering him and I left feeling that I was more of a bother than help. He didn't even have a name tag on his vest, so I don't know who he was. I have put in complaints about excessive speeding, all that were proven and apologized for. Last year I flagged down an officer about 2 dogs locked in a car at 26 I will not complain about signal lights, not stopping at stop signs or minor speeding. I do not want to appear as though I a constant complainer or have something against the RCMP. Sir, this is your reputation and your command. I feel that you should know what is going on in the ranks through the eyes of a citizen that is not scared to write a letter such as this one. Most people are scared of the RCMP and fear retribution. This shows what has become of our fine institution.
