To the editor:

This letter will arrive too late to influence voters’ decisions, but after a harrowing day of driving in Lawrence, I’d like to offer a different perspective on the use of public transportation: safety.

On a recent errand run across Lawrence, I encountered, in a single five-hour period, four serious traffic violations, during two of which I narrowly missed being hit. Each instance involved either a driver turning left across traffic in front of my oncoming car (failure to yield) or a driver speeding up to pass my car at a very short distance from an intersection with a red light or stop sign. In the latter situation, I was turning a corner; the pickup truck behind sped forward, passed and turned in front of me with only a foot or two between vehicles. This on an otherwise empty neighborhood street with a speed limit of 20 mph.

Driving in Lawrence is dangerous. The lack of courtesy, the self-absorption and arrogance of those who now see red and yellow lights as green, who drive in town as if they were on the highway, is shocking. And often the larger the vehicle, i.e., SUVs, the worse the behavior. No flashing yellow arrow will stop these people. It will only stimulate their desire to take more risks. People drive recklessly without heed for others of the law.

M.G. Roy,
Lawrence