To the Editor:
I agree with Abe Hall that our county roads have become increasingly congested, but I disagree as to the source of it. Our roads have become clogged with drivers who think that the potential speed of their vehicle gives them more of a right to their destination than others . . . that going somewhere in a car is somehow more important than going somewhere with some other means of transportation.
this issue does concern my family because we are avid cyclists and also drive carriage horses. This is a beautiful countryside and wonderful place to live. It’s unfortunate that our roads have become over run with people who think their business is so important that they can’t slow down their fast car for the few seconds it takes to wait for a place to safely pass wide and slow. To borrow a slogan from our local print shop, “Lack of planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part.”
Mr. Hall, I think if you would like a solution to this “problem” you should simply leave home about 60 seconds earlier. That should give you ample time to compensate for the delay other human beings going about their business present to you. Those extra 60 seconds will give you the time to breathe deep and smile and wave at that neighbor as you ease gently on the accelerator past them. You can think of those extra 60 seconds as your own personal memorial to “slow time” even if not on the clock. We can give thanks for the blessing of living in such a beautiful rural setting where we still have time to be civil to one another. The roads are being improved for safety’s sake, not for speed.
More of my neighbors have been killed or harmed by excessive speed than a lack of it. I am sure that the postal carriers, law enforcement officers, school busses, trash haulers, mowing crews, road construction workers, utility men, pedestrians, joggers, cyclists, equestrians, farmers driving tractors, hunters walking home from the woods, pet owners and wildlife enthusiasts alike, auto insurance companies and the EMTs who sadly have to attend to the victims of excessive speed. All will thank us if we just slow down a little.
Sarah Thompson
Florence