Safety measures

To the Editor;

This autumn I watched a pickup careen down my street so fast the driver missed their turn, plowed through my mother-in-law’s yard and came within two feet of my son’s sandbox. Thank goodness my son was inside. Drivers regularly disregard the speed limit on my street, the vast majority flying by without incident. But only one unfortunate encounter would bring disaster to my family.

Traffic laws are a paradox: by restricting our freedom of movement, they facilitate our movement. Commutes take a little longer, but are less likely to be disrupted by a crash. More of us reach our destination, unaware of avoided calamity, and the rest of us are spared the resulting traffic jams. As COVID-19 upends our lives, masks and social distancing, like traffic laws, are tools to keep our economy as functional as possible through this difficult time. 

We know how many Mainers die in crashes each year, not how many would have died with no speed limits. We know how many Mainers have died or developed chronic illness from COVID-19, not how many of us in Piscataquis County would have had not all of Maine implemented masks and distancing.

Someday the pandemic will end and our economy will recover. None of us will recover the loss of a family member. Please drive safely. Please wear a mask. Please renounce the Piscataquis County Commissioners’ resolution. May all of our loved ones be here to celebrate the recovery when it arrives.

Lizzy Koltai-Price

Guilford