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Following highway laws can be life or death
There's a reason motor vehicle laws were created in North Carolina and across the country. It's not so law enforcement officers can write tickets to meet their monthly “quotas.” Plain and simple, it's for the safety of people driving and riding in vehicles on the highways. When those motor vehicle laws are violated, there's the potential for tragic circumstances to result. That was the case last week when a woman failed to stop for a red light and was killed when her vehicle crashed into a truck. That was the first highway fatality of 2008 in Caldwell County, a number already too high for anyone who touts safety on the roads. Not adhering to traffic laws can lead to serious effects, like severe property damage, devastating injuries or even worse, death. And if one is fortunate enough to survive collisions that may be brought on by disobeying traffic laws, that person will get hit in the pocketbook when it comes time to pay the insurance on their vehicles. Failing to stop for a red light is just one of many traffic laws that motorists often violate. Exceeding the posted speed limit, driving recklessly, following too closely - all of them are motor vehicle violations that can have negative results. It's sometimes difficult to travel the posted speed limit, and perhaps that's understandable. But exceeding it by 10, 15, 20 mph, that's just asking for trouble and being reckless. Speed is the leading cause of motor vehicle crashes in North Carolina as well as the state's leading cause of highway deaths. Often going hand in hand with speeding is failing to wear a seat belt. Why would anyone get in a motor vehicle these days without buckling up? It makes no sense. Yes, it's possible that a buckled seat belt might not save a person's life in some crashes. But it sure does heighten the chance of surviving them. Drinking and driving is another violation of motor vehicle laws, and yet we see so many instances of impaired drivers - those under the influence of alcohol or drugs, either illegal or prescribed - getting behind the wheel. That's the highway equivalent of Russian Roulette. It just make no sense. There certainly are other driving infractions seen each and every day. Fictitious tags, no registration, expired licenses or driving with no license at all - there's a smorgasbord of citations law enforcement officers can write. We, as a motoring public, can do better. We can curb our driving behavior to make sure we obey traffic laws. Voluntary compliance is what traffic officers often say they want from drivers. Well, if that compliance is given, then perhaps our highways will be safer. It's true we can't control the behavior of other motorists, but we can do something about or own driving habits. And that's what we ought to do. If we're not going to drive safer for ourselves, we at least ought to do it out of respect for others on the same highways. And if we do, perhaps we'll cut down on our collisions and reduce the number of fatalities on our roads here in Caldwell County, across the state and nation. Nathan Key Managing Editor nathankey@newstopic.net
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