It’s getting ridiculous

As I read a gut-wrenching Facebook post from the wife of Lt. Brad Clark, the firefighter who lost his life on I-295, I can only say that little has changed. The #MoveOver campaign – created to get the word out about moving over when you see police vehicles – ambulances or fire apparatus on the shoulder of a road, must not be a flash in the pan. We cannot allow Clark’s death and the deaths of others to have been for naught. If you drive a motor vehicle, then you are responsible for your actions behind the wheel. I understand there may be situations where you cannot move over safely, but you must, at least, slow down.

I believe that our roadways are becoming more and more dangerous. Just yesterday, these things occurred:

In front of Fire Station No. 1 in Chester, I witnessed a Fed Ex van blow through a stop sign.

About 30 to 45 minutes later, a Fed Ex van blew through the stop sign at Winfree and Curtis streets, and nearly hit my daughter-in-law and her children and the car behind them.

An hour later, I was towing a trailer on Route 1 at Route 150. A vehicle came from Chippenham Parkway onto Route 1. She was traveling so fast she almost lost it in the curve right next to me. She then floored it, got in front of me and sped on. I later noticed her weaving in and out of traffic headed south on Route 1.

All of this was in about a two-hour window. I do not know what was up with these drivers, but that was totally uncalled for and against the law.

Texting while driving, making phone calls, or whatever a person is doing to cause themselves to be distracted, is a serious and ongoing problem. If you do not care about yourself, think about the others in your vehicle, pedestrians and people in other vehicles.

The problem is that we are in too big of a hurry thinking that where we need to go is the most important thing on the planet. Although the passing of a law that prohibits anything except hands-free use of a cell phone while driving will be a reactive measure to a societal problem, it must be done. We must do everything possible to rescue people from themselves. By the way, phones are not the only things that distract people. Whatever causes someone to take eyes off the road can lead to a motor vehicle collision.

Driving in bad weather is difficult at best. On top of this, lines in the road have become harder and harder to see. I do not care what roadway someone happens to be on, we must slow down. Every accident that occurs on our roadways is preventable.

I am begging – as one who used to fight fire, provide patient care or offer motorist assistance on some of the worst roads in our county – please drive with others safety in mind. Motor vehicle collisions will hurt or kill more people this year than any other thing, but we cannot accept that as a normal risk or accepted thing. We must change this trend.

There is no excuse for any of us to practice bad driving habits. We all make mistakes, but we must learn from those mistakes.