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Bring Back Driver Education

To The Reader’s Forum:

The fatal accident on Monday, January 23, 2017, on New York Route 60 in the Town of Gerry, south of Sinclairville, was an appalling and horrific event. When these tragedies occur, immediately the design and construction of Rte. 60 is seen by many as the culprit. I have lived and farmed along this road for several decades. I have seen it in all seasons, weathers and conditions. I’m not so sure.

While I did not witness the accident, I did hear it, as we live nearby, overlooking the scene. What I can speak to are the prevailing conditions on that morning. It was broad daylight. The sky was light overcast. The road surface was in excellent repair, clear and dry. Sight distance was excellent. By all accounts there were only two vehicles involved: the south bound car and the north bound bus. What this accident shares with three other fatal accidents I recall along this stretch of Rte. 60 is one thing; driver error. All four occurred when a driver strayed from his lane to travel into the oncoming lane and struck an oncoming vehicle. That said, none of these accidents would have been altered by the suggested remedies of passing or turning lanes and none of them seemed to involve excessive speed.

Route 60 is what it is: two lane, full access. It has broad, paved shoulders, a design factor I much appreciated when I had to move farm machinery along 60. As the main thoroughfare between the Thruway, Dunkirk and Jamestown, 60 is always busy, sometimes crazy busy. I am very familiar with both Rte. 60 and Interstate 86; I contend, at any given time of day 60 is just as traveled, mile for mile as 86, or more so. I tend to agree with NYDOT engineers that 60 is little different from other similar state highways and safer than many others.

If a culprit must be named, it is driver error. Sitting at Sylvester Road waiting to enter Rte. 60 over the last decades I have witnessed a great deal of driver folly: ladies applying makeup, men with newspapers or books balanced on steering wheels. Yakking into cellphones or gazing into personal devices? Let’s not even go there: that’s typical of even the Sheriff’s Deputies and State Troopers I see on 60!

If our public officials and state representatives want to spend some dough for highway safety why not introduce high school driver education back into New York’s public schools as required curriculum? Maybe some of the dangerous nonsense I’ve witnessed along Rte. 60 could be nipped in the bud. The politicians can put lipstick they want on Rte. 60, but it’ll always be a pig!

Nate Wilson,

Sinclairville

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