by INFORUM
Quiet conditions on rural roads can be deceiving
May 24, 2010 at 4:06 am in INFORUM
MINNEAPOLIS – The sky was clear and the spring afternoon was filled with promise as four girls from Lewiston-Altura High School piled into a pickup and headed off to start their weekend.
A half-hour later, Shauna Ruhoff, 16, Morgan Zeller, 13, and Katie Hornberg, 14, were dead and Cydney Maker, 12, was clinging to life after the truck veered off a two-lane county road in southeastern Minnesota and flipped in a grassy ditch. Three of the girls were not wearing seat belts; the survivor said she was wearing a lap belt. All four were thrown from the truck. Continue reading…
I don’t believe it’s the roads that are dangerous. It is the reckless drivers.
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Another accident occurred last night by Christine on Highway 81. Somebody didn’t stop at the stop sign and pulled out and hit a motorcycle. I think drivers in rural areas become complacent and assume that they will automatically see everything without trying. Wrong!
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Our region is open, flat, and well posted for any/all potential dangers like curves or approaching dangers. Like others have already posted, it’s nearly always the driver’s fault and not simply just a mishap. Driving talking on cell phones, driving while texting, drinking and driving, driving when tired, driving while hands busy smoking and such, driving while supervising unruly children, etc. These are the most prevalent causes, not poor lighting, labeling or dangerous straight, dry, desolate roads in this rural region. The greatest tragedy usually isn’t in the demise of the distracted driver, it’s in the innocent victims they hit, the children who experience a loss, the parents who lose a child, or the friends of the victims. Sadly it’s usually not an inadequately posted corner. It’s not a poorly lit street. It’s not excessive speed limits or poorly labeled corners. No, roadways are not the issue.
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The fact is that rural areas do present dangers such as deer, greasy wet roads, and people just not paying as much attention as they should. If everyone wore their seatbelt alot of these tragedies could be prevented.
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