Charles (Chuck) Kensinger

Driving through Springfield streets it can often be noticed that certain people do not obey traffic laws, signs and stop lights.  As a Christian you may wonder who these people are or, hopefully not, you may find yourself participating in these unlawful and unsafe practices.  The only explanation for this is that those who ignore common sense or instruction and posted ordinances believe they are better than everyone else.

Some examples of this observed behavior are those who do not attempt to stop when the traffic light turns to yellow.  When the Springfield Police cars and Greene County Sherriff cruisers do this it is common knowledge that they do not have to obey the laws they are paid to enforce.  Why should they set the example by stopping just because the light has turned yellow.  Those who drive through red lights must just be off duty officers that know they won’t get any tickets.  How many people are killed in accidents when the instruction of a light is ignored?  No more than two hundred or so each year.  Who cares about that small a number?

Bicyclists can go anywhere they want to because they are cutting down on the pollution by riding.  Sidewalks are alright unless you look at local ordinances. Just because there is a marked lane showing the cyclists to follow the flow of other vehicles that doesn’t mean you can’t travel on the wrong side of the road and cuss the drivers that aren’t paying attention to you being where you aren’t supposed to be.  If you are hit and killed by a motorist, they will be blamed and must live with it, not you.

Do you like round-abouts? Is that why you do not yield to traffic that is going around the circle? Those of you that drive your trucks over the center destroying the expensive landscaping do not care that we all had to pay for it. What is even better are the medians that are placed between the lanes on small two-lane roads for no good reason other than for idiots to drive in the wrong lanes.

I won’t even talk about the motorcyclists that we are all reminded to keep safe by watching for them as they speed between lanes of traffic to get in front of cars. It is especially enjoyable to watch them pop their wheelies as they race down the road. The last thing I want is to drive over them when they wipe out on a grease spot.

The two biggest problems are inattentiveness and impairment. Missouri finally has decided to make texting and the use of handheld phones while driving illegally.  It only causes ten percent of the traffic fatalities each year according to the CDC. Many of these are single car accidents. They account for sixty percent of deaths. Thank you for not taking me with you.

Only 29 deaths every day nationwide are caused by impaired drivers. That is why they are allowed to offend again and again. They lose their licenses and keep driving. They kill others and continue to be released after a few years to kill again. Why isn’t this stopped? Check you local, state, and federal law makers to see what percentage of them have had DUI’s. Maybe we should check the records before we vote for them?

Thank you for letting me rant. I know you won’t do anything about it until someone you care about dies. Watch out for those other motorists who don’t care about you. Or maybe that includes you and I?

©Copyright 2023 by Charles Kensinger