Your editorial in the July 28 Opine section of the Star Beacon in regard to slow drivers causing accidents, while praising fast drivers, really pulled my chain, so to speak. I am not normally a slow-poke on the highway, but your reasoning resonates of someone who seems to reflect the current attitude of many: You have to get there in a hurry, even if you have nowhere important to go! You have to be in a hurry, and maybe even have a little”edge” abou while you drive.
You stated that when you (or others) are in a hurry to get somewhere, and then happen to get behind a slower driver, and have to rush around them, that they are the ones who are driving usafely, and possibly cause an accident. Did it ever occur to you that a lack of planning on your part (i.e leave on time to get where you have to be at an appointed time) doesn’t constitute an emergency on everyone else’s part. You are only thinking of yourself. Perhaps there is something in the road ahead of the “slow” driver of which you have no knowledge... did you ever think of that? Did you ever think that your whipping out around people who are driving sensibly down the road could possibly also cause an accident? You probably cut others off, and pull back in front of others before you can safely see them in your rear view mirror, don’t you?
Whatever happened to the quaint idea of taking responsibility for your own actions? When I took driver’s ed, we were taught safety... things like assured clear distance, leave a car length for every 10 miles of speed between you and the car ahead of you... don’t go OVER the speed limit... yield to traffic when you are entering a freeway from an entrance ramp... I could go on.
Oh, and as for your statistics, you know you can make numbers say anything you want with the proper spin on them. Would you rather have drivers go the speed limit even if it is unsafe to do so... either because of a problem they have or that is on the road... like ice... just so you can get somewhere in a hurry? I once heard a driver actually say that he had to go nearly 100 miles an hour on a freeway to get around the stupid people in front of him who were going so slow they were going to cause an accident! WHO was the stupid person?
Your other examples are pretty lame, too, Mr. Frieder. You are really reaching when you talk about our economy an the fact that some employers fire employees for having more than six points on their driver’s license, saying that would be a lack of taxes, spending, etc. Oh brother. Would you rather we just remove all the laws... all the speed limits... and just let everyone do whatever they want? Many people already act as though the laws aren’t written for them! Please don’t encourage that mind-set. And to say the police have a boring job, etc. Please!
I generally appreciate your editorials, Mr. Friedder, but I think this one was a goose-egg!
Edith A. Sickler
Ashtabula
Opinion
Aug. 11 Letters to the Editor: Edith A. Sickler
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Aug. 11 Letters to the Editor: Edith A. Sickler
Your editorial in the July 28 Opine section of the Star Beacon in regard to slow drivers causing accidents, while praising fast drivers, really pulled my chain, so to speak.
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