Good-Driving Reminders Needed

Editor,

I know I’m not the only one who thinks driving in Laguna has become increasingly akin to maneuvering through a challenging obstacle course. Or worse. Think roulette. Green you win … red, well we know what happens when you lose.

I am a hyper-vigilant driver, but I can’t begin to count the close calls. As a driver and passenger. It’s almost as though one should invite a friend along for each trip to the market to provide an additional set of eyes.

Whether it’s a cyclist (motorized or otherwise) not following the rules of sharing the road, cell talker, texter, a driver who doesn’t believe in the four-way-stop rule and just stops briefly then goes, Coast Highway beach-goer in SoLag who can’t be bothered to go to a crosswalk, oblivious teenager (sorry kids, but you’re not invincible), pedestrian who decides to dash across a signaled intersection just as it’s about to change to red, the random u-turner in the middle of a block… and on and on. The list is endless. You’d be hard pressed to find a resident who hasn’t encountered all of these on a regular basis.

I know we are all concerned and very troubled by the number of incidents reported in the local media. Short of having signs throughout town warning people of real danger (guess that wouldn’t do much for tourism), I’d like to suggest a PSA in each edition of our local publications (weeklies and magazines). It wouldn’t hurt to include something in the FOA and Sawdust summer brochures as well. And, although directed at visitors, maybe the locals would be reminded as well. Something along the lines of: “Visitors, whether walking or driving, please be careful and obey the rules of the road. All of them. We want you to come back alive.”

Leslie Cunningham, Laguna Beach