Last weekend I had occasion to drive out to Bryrwood Drive in Central Park to pick up my granddaughter who had attended an over-night birthday party at the home of one of her friends.
As I drove up the hill leaving Aberdeen, and doing the posted speed limit of 45 mph, I was passed by three cars. Continuing out the highway, and complying to the posted speed limit when it changed to 50 mph, I was passed by five more cars before I reached the Aberdeen Lake turnoff road. This situation continued all the way through Central Park, and by the time I turned off the highway onto Bryrwood Drive, I had been passed a total of 29 times while driving the posted speed limit. There were no sheriff’s cars or State Patrol cars around, so of course, no one was stopped or cited for speeding. To make a long story short, coming back into Aberdeen was much better, we were only passed 13 times. I suppose that for a round trip of about 12 miles, being passed 42 times is no record, but it simply should not be happening.
This practice occurs daily, not only in Central Park, but also on the Chehalis River Bridge (posted speed 30 mph; actual speed 35 to 50); Heron & Wishkah Streets (posted 30; actual 35 to 40); Simpson and Sumner avenues (posted 30; actual 35 to 40, except when the school crossing lights are flashing). It has gotten to the point that if you are not driving at least five miles over the posted speed limit, you almost take your life in your hands. Stop signs seem to be a particular challenge for a lot of drivers who don’t seem to know that STOP means STOP, not pause, not slow down and then punch it, or most of all not pay any attention to the sign at all and just drive right on through. I understand that some of these situations happen, especially when people are in a hurry or non-attentive, but there are just too many incidents happening every day to call this anything but flagrant disregard for the law.
I may be old-fashioned, but I believe that you are supposed to obey the posted speed limit, and all of the other traffic laws that are on the books. If this were to be the case, there would be far fewer accidents, far fewer fatalities and far fewer people mourning for those they have lost to an avoidable accident. It’s time for the police to crack down on the speeders, those who still insist on using their cell phones while driving and especially on those who drive under the influence of alcohol or drugs. There is always room in the cemetery for those who make that fatal mistake, unfortunately it’s usually the victim who is killed, not the instigator.
Larry Wakefield
Aberdeen
