Letters

Editor,

Last night a terribly disturbing scene played out underneath my window. I heard a crash and when I investigated, saw a young lady sprawled in the street next to a motorcycle. Thankfully, a policeman trained in first aid was on the scene almost immediately. As she was taken away by ambulance, I prayed the young lady was not seriously injured and for her speedy recovery.

I had not witnessed the accident, but as I watched, someone in the street came forward to surrender a cell phone to the police. That begs the question of whether that phone belonged to the young lady and if it did, then could it have had anything to do with the accident?

Rarely a day passes in San Miguel that I fail to see motorcyclists and riders of ATVs driving while talking on their cell phones. It is also very common to see bus drivers chatting away on their phones while maneuvering through city traffic.

Drivers talking on cell phones, especially motorcyclists without helmets, are a danger to their own safety. Drivers of 10-ton buses create a much more dangerous situation for all of us whether on the bus or in front of it.

I understand there is already a law on the books in San Miguel making it unlawful to use a cell phone while driving. Last week in Boston, a commuter train accident left some 50 people injured; the conductor admitted he was distracted while texting his girlfriend. In Boston, they also already had rules against drivers using cell phones. After the accident, the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority had the courage to ban their trolley conductors and bus drivers from even having a cell phone in their possession while on duty.

Charles Baxter Miller