Be aware of what's around you when on the road
Sunday July 15, 2012 | By:Jennifer Lysiak, Lancaster Editor |
LANCASTER- Since May, three roadway deaths had occurred in Lancaster and honestly, going from nothing to three in a short amount of time is quite worrisome. My only question is…what is going on? Are distractions in and out of the car becoming more of a problem from paying attention to the road and those we have to share the road with?
On May 3, 14-year-old Bryce Buchholz of Elma was killed by a drunk driver, who struck him while riding his bike on Lake Avenue. I know this case is different than the others, because the driver was drunk, but alcohol is still a distraction.
This situation, because the driver was stupid and didn’t think twice before getting behind the wheel of a vehicle, could have been easily avoided. Now two families’ lives are changed forever as a result of what occurred.
On July 2, James B. Coffed, died after colliding with a dump truck and now a 53-year-old Middleport man, Mark B. Millian, operating a motor scooter was killed Thursday, July 5, in a collision with an SUV at Walden Avenue and Ransom Road.
The deaths of Coffed and Millian had nothing to do with alcohol or drugs, according to police. But I think it has to do with just careless driving. Both accidents occurred in the morning, which got me thinking that maybe the dump truck driver was in a hurry to make a delivery and the SUV driver could have been in a hurry to get to work. Either way, we have all raced to get where we were going and taking those extra seconds to look for pedestrians is just forgotten.
According to the police report, glare from the sun is a possible factor in regard to the SUV driver hitting Milliman, but then shouldn’t a driver be extra cautious if the sun is blinding. I know accidents happen and I wouldn’t know what I do if I accidently hit and killed someone, but I just want to stress that drivers need to be careful and cautious. Take a second, third glance to make sure nobody is in your pathway.
Especially, now that summer is here drivers need to be extra vigilant of pedestrians trying to cross a street or walking, biking, or scooting down a road. According to statistics gathered by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, an estimated 59,000 pedestrians were injured in traffic accidents in 2009 and 13,000 of those injured were age 14 and younger. Also, more than 4,000 pedestrians died in traffic crashes.
Hitting a pedestrian at a speed of more than 30 MPH results in more serious injuries and fatalities -- yet a driver can severely disable a pedestrian in a crash where the driver is traveling only 10 MPH.
Let’s remember to share the roadways and be considerate of everything and everyone around us. Stay safe out there.
On May 3, 14-year-old Bryce Buchholz of Elma was killed by a drunk driver, who struck him while riding his bike on Lake Avenue. I know this case is different than the others, because the driver was drunk, but alcohol is still a distraction.
This situation, because the driver was stupid and didn’t think twice before getting behind the wheel of a vehicle, could have been easily avoided. Now two families’ lives are changed forever as a result of what occurred.
On July 2, James B. Coffed, died after colliding with a dump truck and now a 53-year-old Middleport man, Mark B. Millian, operating a motor scooter was killed Thursday, July 5, in a collision with an SUV at Walden Avenue and Ransom Road.
The deaths of Coffed and Millian had nothing to do with alcohol or drugs, according to police. But I think it has to do with just careless driving. Both accidents occurred in the morning, which got me thinking that maybe the dump truck driver was in a hurry to make a delivery and the SUV driver could have been in a hurry to get to work. Either way, we have all raced to get where we were going and taking those extra seconds to look for pedestrians is just forgotten.
According to the police report, glare from the sun is a possible factor in regard to the SUV driver hitting Milliman, but then shouldn’t a driver be extra cautious if the sun is blinding. I know accidents happen and I wouldn’t know what I do if I accidently hit and killed someone, but I just want to stress that drivers need to be careful and cautious. Take a second, third glance to make sure nobody is in your pathway.
Especially, now that summer is here drivers need to be extra vigilant of pedestrians trying to cross a street or walking, biking, or scooting down a road. According to statistics gathered by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, an estimated 59,000 pedestrians were injured in traffic accidents in 2009 and 13,000 of those injured were age 14 and younger. Also, more than 4,000 pedestrians died in traffic crashes.
Hitting a pedestrian at a speed of more than 30 MPH results in more serious injuries and fatalities -- yet a driver can severely disable a pedestrian in a crash where the driver is traveling only 10 MPH.
Let’s remember to share the roadways and be considerate of everything and everyone around us. Stay safe out there.
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