Mailbag: Reckless driving needs to be addressed
I was nearly featured in a News-Press article this week. Not because I saved a puppy or wrote a best seller, but because I was almost the victim of a driver who confused North Verdugo Road with the 2 Freeway.
As I waited for a clearing in oncoming traffic for a left turn, in the rearview mirror I watched a car speeding directly toward me in my lane. At the last second, it swerved into the right lane, sparing me a ride to the ICU or morgue, sparing my wife and family a personal tragedy, and sparing any innocent bystanders and motorists nearby.
Sadly, this scenario is not unique. Every day, I witness freeway speeds and near tragedies on this stretch of residential roadway, while walking the dog.
Because stories about spectacular crashes often get a few column inches in this paper, I’ve decided to put my “almost” inches to better use. I’m asking our city to direct more Proposition N funds (that Glendale citizens recently voted overwhelmingly to reaffirm) to send a consistent punishing message to those who endanger lives with their vehicles on our streets. Reckless drivers should be the ONLY ones who pay — not the men, women, children and pets who happen to get in their way.
Does anyone who’s ever made a left turn disagree?
Richard Lippman
Glendale
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Thoughts on gun control issue
I would like to respond to “Problem is access to guns,” by Henry D. Schlinger, Jr., Ph. D., July 9. Mr. Schlinger’s comments in support of Adam Schiff’s op-ed of June 25, “Congress must stand up the NRA,” are hollow points. California has the strictest gun law in the nation and the worst crime attributed to guns. In 2016, we will lead the country in gun crimes. The news media always fail to inform us whether the guns used were legal or illegal. Enough said.
Background checks are another hollow point. The perpetrators of the San Bernardino massacre got the weapons by having a neighbor next door purchase them. Enough said! Let’s face it, Adam Schiff is just a politician.
Mr. Schlinger is a behavioral scientist. He confesses that you cannot change human behavior. A foregone conclusion.
Jeremiah 17:9 “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure, who can understand it.”
Answer: Listen to Robert Winthrop, speaker of the House of Representatives (1847-1849), “Men in a word must necessarily be controlled either by a power within them or by a power without them, either by the Word of God or by the strong arm of man, either by the Bible or by the bayonet.” Enough said!
I am very much against having guns within cities. I’m a peaceable man. However, suppose all honest citizens gave up their weapons. What is left? If you recall the movie, “The Magnificent Seven.” Calvera (the outlaw) said, “If God didn’t want them (that’s us) sheered, he wouldn’t have made them sheep!”
So, then, the question remains. “Are you a sheep or a sheepdog?” Enough said!
Roy M. Lopez, D.D.
Glendale
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Working together would be positive step
I am so glad that I’m not black. I couldn’t stand looking forward to each new day during which I might be reviled, or worse yet, killed just because of my appearance.
I am so glad that I’m not a police officer. I couldn’t stand looking forward to each new day during which I might be reviled, or worse yet, killed just because of my appearance.
Of course, in both cases there are some individuals who deserve our revulsion and fear but the vast majority are simply trying to live their day-to-day lives just like you and me. Recognizing this truth, it is clear that we all must work together to find solutions for the discord that can so dramatically and painfully divide us and causes needless trauma for so many.
Robert Morrison
Glendale