It seems like every edition carries an article about a serious car wreck this summer.
We appreciate the folks at LifeFlight, but we would like to see them around a lot less.
In addition to these wrecks, how many more near-misses do you notice each day?
Often these seem to be the result of inattentiveness. How many times do you see drivers with their heads down, eyes on their phone screen instead of the road?
The Damariscotta and Wiscasset police departments deserve credit for their recent efforts to hold these drivers accountable.
Other dangerous behavior stems from aggressive driving, intoxication, or both.
The Maine Bureau of Highway Safety lists the number of highway traffic fatalities this year as 70. That’s fewer than last year at this time, but it still sounds like an awful lot – with most wholly avoidable.
How many more lives did each of these deaths change forever? How many kids lost their parents? How many parents lost their kids?
How about a person who causes, but survives, one of these fatal wrecks, through carelessness or recklessness? How does this impact their life? We would guess it’s a difficult thing to live with.
The height of summer in Maine is the most dangerous time to be on the road here. Turns out it’s easier for us to drive in blizzards and ice storms than to drive with more of our fellow humans.
We urge drivers to use common sense – to drive sober, pay attention to the road, and obey all other traffic laws.
Let’s all respect one another and arrive at our destinations safely.
