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Dear Editor, 

I don’t understand why people can’t just share the road and slow down. Every few months, we have an accident of some kind happen with an Amish buggy and those poor folks end up injured and possibly in the hospital, just because someone else can’t take the time to pay attention. Here’s what’s not being said, with all the talk of reflective lights and people just going too fast while going through a curve in the road. It’s not just a problem with the Amish. 

These crazy drivers, who feel the need to speed down straight stretches and curves alike, do run into the buggies. But they also are a threat to the rest of us. My daughter is out driving for the first time right now. I don’t want to turn her loose, not because she’s a bad driver. She’s not, at least better than some others in the family. I don’t want her out driving because of the other nuts out there. It’s easy for all of us to shrug and say ‘oh, they hit the Amish, that’s so sad.’ But if they hit the Amish, who’s to say they won’t do the same to you or your family? 

And I know people won’t like the solution. I know they’ll grumble and complain, especially if they get tagged with a ticket. But the way we fix this long-term is to ask the sheriff to put more deputies on traffic patrol, to truly crack down on speeders in parts of this county. Because here’s the thing, I’d much rather have to wait in line for license checks and see people get pulled over for speeding than to get a call about my daughter being in the hospital, because she was hit by someone who was just out of control and didn’t need to be on the road. And if it takes more money to hire more deputies, then we need to make that happen. I’m tired of hearing about children getting killed or hurt by people speeding. And I don’t want to be the next family member who gets that call.

Andrew Bryce

Cumberland County