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Editorial
Spring daze
The recent warm weather has brought with it an unfortunate, and occasionally tragic, side effect. During the past several weeks there has been a dramatic increase in the number of automobile accidents in the county.
While some have been the result of unavoidable circumstances, others have stemmed directly from driver error, or, even more alarmingly, from impaired drivers.
Given the safety awareness programs which fill the media, coupled with the stiffer penalties passed last year for driving under the influence, plus a mandatory seat belt law, many had hoped that this year would be different.
Alas, it has not yet been that way.
Once again, weekends see state and local law enforcement officials pursuing intoxicated drivers from early Friday afternoon until late Sunday evening. Rescue squad personnel spend their weekends extricating impaired drivers and, more frequently, their innocent victims, from the twisted wreckage of their vehicles.
And injuries to occupants in other accidents are unnecessarily severe because the drivers and passengers steadfastly refuse to wear safety belts.
This highway carnage has become such a fact of life that it often seems commonplace. But the suffering of the victims and their families is tragic, no matter how often it is repeated.
We join the State Police, Sheriffs Department and highway safety advocates in urging our readers to exercise extra care on the road. Not only is there more traffic, there are also other drivers who are not exercising the attention and judgement they should. And, unfortunately, some have no business behind the wheel at all.
Driving defensively is an easy way to have a safe spring and summer. The last way anyone wants to spend their vacation is as a statistic.
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