The views stated here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the staff of this newspaper.
Remember the article in Haddam-Killingworth Now titled “Motor Vehicle Accident in Front of HES April 23”? Including: “both vehicles were not drivable,” and “the driver of the vehicle that had stopped [for the crossing guard] was transported to Middlesex Hospital via Haddam Volunteer Ambulance Service.” So, it was right in front of HES, and it was a serious accident.
About 15 young children were out of school at the time of the accident (3:40 p.m.) and were active in the playground. They all heard the terrible screeching of tires, heard the very loud car crash, and then saw steam coming from the front of the rear colliding vehicle. Being a grandfather of one of the first graders there, I saw and heard the same things. Sad to see both driver’s lives change so dramatically, so quickly.
But today (April 25th), I went to explore the scene of this accident.
Here’s what a driver sees at the top of the hill on Hwy 154 (Saybrook Road), just before heading down the hill to HES and Higganum: A 35 mph Speed Limit sign; no sign of a School ahead.
And then, finally, right before the School crossing, a blinking sign. Notice: NO CHANGE IN SPEED LIMIT. And did I see anyone applying their brakes at this point, in spite of the blinking orange signals, and images of Kids Ahead? No. Did that make me mad? You bet it did! So what else could one do except locate the crossing guard and see if she had any comments/observations about this situation.
Yes, she was right at her post, the crossing guard Ms. LaTouche, and she has been doing this for almost 50 years. Her general comments included: “Cars really speed through here”; “sometimes they don’t even stop for me – I have to get out of the way”; “this particular accident did not hit me, but caused me to fall down – I’m ok.”
Now I’m REALLY mad, because I’m remembering two general items:
First, regarding the high speeds and dangerous conditions on Hwy 154, my neighbor last year was rear-ended so hard that her [heavy] Ford Explorer was pushed over the guard rail and landed upside down; and that a bicyclist was killed, (KILLED) riding his bike at the intersection of Jail Hill Road and HWY 154.
And then I remember, in general, at one of the RSD17 presentations about consolidating the HES students into Burr Elementary, one of the stated reasons for doing so was that the access for students and buses is much safer at Burr than HES. Well, I’m a very firm believer in that now. It’s time that we, as a community, face the realities of our ever-declining student population and the inherent risks for our kids of being located right on Hwy 154. The latter argument is the more important: “Save the KIDS”.
Respectfully submitted,
Maurice D. Adams
32 Gates Way, Haddam
cc: Board of Selectmen: please solve this speeding traffic problem Now!
