To the Editor:

 As a long-time resident of Newtown, there are many topics on which I could opine, but the one most on my mind now is traffic safety as students from K to 12 return to school. I am reminded, almost daily, of the reckless disregard for drivers using not only our state roads like Routes 25, 302, and 34, but local roads such as the road I live on, Juniper Road, and Elm Drive.

Yesterday, I had to quickly steer out of the way of a box truck who took Juniper (off route 302) through to Birch Rise Drive, then speed through the stop sign as he turned onto Elm. The same day, I saw a huge tractor trailer truck, south-bound on Elm Drive, careen around the corner onto Hawley Road where he proceeded to turn right onto Route 25.

When I vented to my husband, he said these drivers are “cutting out the light at Route 25.” 

Since neither of these events occurred during heavily trafficked hours, I wonder what these roads are going to look like when school starts. Not only are students endangered, but cyclists, pedestrians, and other drivers who use these roads. Not to mention children playing in front of their homes and sometimes wandering into the street!

One final word to all the people who barrel through the intersection of Elm Drive and Brushy Hill Road: what part of STOP do you not understand? There, you are putting golfers, skateboarders, other vehicles, and Dickinson park users at risk!   Maybe having speed tables near hazardous intersections in the borough is not such a bad idea after all!

 Thank you for letting me vent in my beloved Bee,

Mary Thomas

22 Juniper Road, Newtown                                         August 20, 2013