It's Dangerous Out There

It has been a tragic few weeks around here as far as fatal accidents. Recently in Adams County five teens were killed when their car crossed the center line and hit a vehicle in the other lane. Last week, north of Manheim, twin brothers and their elementary age sister were killed when their car apparently skidded off the wet road and crashed. The sister of a friend of ours suffered severe injuries when a teenager in his new car went through a stop sign and broad sided her. He had been drinking. Among other things, she had brain damage. However, the good news is that while she is still in a nursing home, she seems to be recovering but still suffering some short term memory loss. Unfortunately, her accident reminds me so much of the one that killed my mother instantly. A teen also went through a stop sign and broad sided my parents. The teen's parents quickly removed him from the scene so no tests were performed to see if he had been drinking. The highways are a very dangerous place. We just completed a two-day 300 mile trip to visit seven of our relatives, three of whom are in nursing homes. The dangers of being on the highway were very evident during the trip. Even before we left Lancaster, I had to avoid a young female driver going about 40 mph over the parking spots at the Park City Mall. Later it was a senior driver, at a retirement center, who took a wide turn while I was waiting at a stop sign. I don't know how she missed me. On Saturday we were on our way to a restaurant for breakfast , going 55 mph, when a van pulled right out in front of us at a stop sign. Thankfully I was able to hit the brakes and stop before hitting him from behind. Incidentally, he was going to the same restaurant as us, just a mile down the road. There were two other situations that I observed that bother me. First was the speeding that we observed. I couldn't' count the number of cars that passed us in 65 mph zones going 80 mph or greater. And many of them tailgated drivers who were going the speed limit. Or they dangerously weaved in and out of traffic to get ahead. Most of these appeared to be 30 years of age or less. Many were out of state drivers, mainly from New York. The second major problem that I observed is that few people actually yield when entering a main highway from an on ramp. They just try and beat you, often at high speeds. Coming home I saw this young driver in his "hot" car come up the ramp at a high speed. I was in the far lane passing a car in the other lane. There was nothing the two of us could do as he began to force his way on to the highway. At one point we appeared to be three cars side-by-side with only two lanes to drive in. Fortunately he stopped short of forcing both of us off the road. But then he came up behind me and. when I could get out of his way, he passed me at a very high speed. During this trip I was reminded of the importance of asking the Lord for safety before you even drive out of your driveway. If I had my way, here is what I would do to remedy the situations. First I would put more policemen on the roads enforcing the laws. They need to stop the speeders and they need to enforce the meaning of yield. When the state and municipalities are in such dire shape financially, maybe enforcing the laws and giving tickets would help fill the treasuries and at the same time improve safety on the highways. Incidentally we didn't see a single cop in two days, except for those at an accident location in Sunbury. Second, I would make fines much heavier. If a drunk driver is at fault for a minor accident, his license should be revoked for five years. If a drunk driver is at fault for a serious accident with injuries, his license should be revoked for ten years. And if a drunk driver is at fault for an accident with a fatality, his license should be revoked permanently. That might make a few more people think about driving after drinking. But none of this is politically correct and it is far too conservative, so nobody would ever dare consider such penalties. So the accidents will continue, the fatalities will mount, and the roads will continue to be a dangerous place to be. Hopefully, none of my family members will be the victim of such carelessness by other drivers. One time in my family in my lifetime is more than enough. So be careful, it is a dangerous world out there on the highways.