Our View: 58 Folsom accidents in 21 days is far too many

Between Dec. 26 and Jan. 15, the Folsom Police Department reported it responded to a total of 58 traffic collisions just in the city limits. While some may break that down to approximately three accidents a day, it's still far too many for a community the size of Folsom. In the coming weeks, the Folsom Telegraph will take an indepth look at the rising issues on the local roads. We will progressively bring forth many of the statistics of incidents on our roads and bring to light the many ways our local police department is working to combat the growing problem. It's a known fact that many factors can cause a traffic collision. However, when they take place in a city where severe weather is rare, the majority of these accidents come down to one thing: the negligence of many behind the wheel. The good news to this bad news is that we can all make an effort to change these statistics in the future by pledging to be safer and more focused behind the wheel. When driving a motor vehicle, you are tasked with many responsibilities. You must be fully aware of your surroundings, focused on the road and nothing else, sober, fully alert, old enough to drive, responsible, and you are also tasked with many other responsibilities. Driving a motor vehicle is a privilege and can easily be taken away. Being a safe driver is very important and requires the individual to be smart, experienced, responsible and alert. Many laws today do the best they can to prevent motor vehicle crashes, but people must follow the laws for them to work, and even when following the law, things are not guaranteed. Laws dealing with speed limits, distracted driving and driving under the influence are meant to help protect citizens and keep the roads as a safe place to be. Too many times, you find that people "dislike" these rules and feel that they are above the law and should not have to follow them, but in the end, no person is invincible and everybody needs to follow simple laws. A lot of accidents are avoidable, as long as the drivers are aware of their surroundings and make smart decisions. The leading cause of motor vehicle accidents is distracted driving. The main distraction is that phone that everyone is addicted to. That phone makes a little jingle and you just have to know who it is from and what they want, so instead of waiting for the destination, you reach down and grab your phone, open it up and read your text message. Individuals who text and drive are 23 percent more likely to get in a car accident than those who don't. At this point, your eyes have been off the road for more than six seconds and by going 55 miles per hour, you have traveled more than the length of a football field, if you did not already hit something. After reading the text, people feel compelled to respond as soon as they can, so once again instead of waiting for their destination, they send back that message and again travel a long distance with their eyes off the road and their mind focused on their phone instead of the road. Distracted driving is very dangerous and that text message can wait. Eleven teens die every day from texting and driving. It is also not just the teens; while 90 percent of adults said they knew texting and driving was dangerous, 49 percent admitted they text and drive. The numbers are astounding and distracted driving accidents are avoidable. Put your phone away until you reach your destination and then you can deal with the texts and phone calls. Driving responsibly is a very important task for every individual. Motor vehicles are not toys and using them as toys can flip your life and many other lives upside down. People are not invincible no matter if they believe they are. Think about the lives that are in your hand the next time you turn that key and put the car in drive. The way you act behind the wheel is very important. While everybody is guilty of not driving safely at one point or another, we can change that right now and start making the roads a safe place for people to be. Drive safe out there, Folsom! Join the conversation! Share your thoughts on this subject by submitting your very own Readers Input letter for publication consideration at: submissions@goldcountrymedia.com.