Parts of metro Detroit got some freezing rain this morning resulting in slower travel and a bunch of crashes throughout the area. I can hear it already – where were the salt trucks? Why weren’t the road agencies prepared for this? Why can’t I drive 55 on the freeway on a morning like this?
Well, public agencies do have a responsibility to maintain the roads and they are doing the best they can with smaller budgets and staffs. You know who also has to take some responsibility in this? Yes my friend, it is you and me. We are often the first to complain about how our tax dollars are being spent by others and how we don’t want to pay more. However, we often fail to understand that we have the means to control some of that cost ourselves by doing just one simple thing – SLOW DOWN!
We can positively impact the situation if each one of us would only take responsibility for our own actions and slow down. Leave early, anticipate slower traffic, take the bus, stay home if you can. Instead, some of us drive too fast. That often results in traffic crashes, possible injuries, damage to our vehicles, long backups of traffic, increases of auto emissions, and lost productivity for thousands of people. Why? Because someone drove too fast for the conditions, no matter what they were.
I am not giving public agencies a pass – I just think it is time we started taking responsibility for our own actions and not just point the finger at someone else. There is a lot we can do by just obeying the existing laws of our state and the laws of common sense to help ourselves.
