To the editor:

Lawrencians, for the safety of yourself and others, please pick up and read a Kansas driving handbook this summer. You can get one at the DMV for free, or you can review it online. There have been far too many vehicular deaths in and around this city, and the situation is well past dangerous. Taking the time to review the “rules of the road” might reveal how many distractions we allow ourselves while operating heavy machinery.

Blame it on the victims, or the students, or the drunks, but the truth is that drivers are being irresponsible. Everyone is guilty of it. Slow down. We take risks that take peoples’ lives. Let’s get our hands on the wheel and our eyes on the road.

In the 15 years since I took drivers’ education in the LHS parking lot, Lawrence has grown and changed a lot. Traffic laws have not. It seems that drivers don’t know what to do when a traffic light is out, and no one knows what a safe following distance is in bad weather. Slow down!

There are drivers who think that it is OK to text and drive. It is not OK to text and drive! Please recognize that there are more and more drivers on the road and that our destinations are getting farther apart. There is always going to be construction! Let’s slow down and give ourselves more time to get to where we’re going. Read the book. Flipping each other off isn’t going to make the roads safer.