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Dangers of Our Roads

As an avid cyclist and runner living on Clapboard Hill, I have a close-up look at the dangers of our roads. I’m also a parent of young boys who want to explore our town on foot and on bike, and I’m writing because I’m genuinely scared to let them onto our roads.

The average daily car commuter in New Haven County travels 14 miles each way. Let’s says that 12 miles are highway and two are on back roads. At the speed limit of 65 miles per hour, the 12 miles takes 11 minutes, 5 seconds. At 10 miles per hour over the speed limit, the 12 miles takes 9 minutes, 36 seconds. At the typical back road speed limit of 25 miles per hour, the 2 miles take 4 minutes, 45 seconds. At 10 miles per hour over the speed limit, the two miles takes 3 minutes, 26 seconds.

So overall, speeding by 10 miles per hour over the limit, you save 2 minutes and 48 seconds on your commute. Is that time saved worth the added danger to the cars, bikes, children, and animals around you? What if I killed a child while driving over the speed limit one mile from my house? Is that 2 minutes and 48 seconds worth it? Could I live with that?

Runners, walkers, and bikers should know the rules of the road: Run and walk against traffic; bike with the flow of traffic. We need to be predictable and conspicuous. If we want drivers to respect us, we need to respect them and be consistently on the appropriate side.

Studies also show the accident rate of someone texting and driving is four times that of an undistracted driver, equivalent to the accident rate of driving while drunk. It can honestly wait.

Kameron Shahid

Guilford