Dr. Jay Walshon is a 38-year resident of Westport. Like many, he is concerned about the twin terrors of local driving: recklessness and incivility. He writes:
For the last 2 years we have been fortunate to have a beautiful large hare living in our neighborhood.
Multiple times a week he frequented our front yard, munching his dinner of lawn provided salads. He survived 2 Westport winters without any sign of wear, and greeted us so commonly in our driveway that my wife named him AJ, and periodically provided him with leftover organics from our dinner table.
Not AJ. But close.
It was amusing to watch AJ scamper about … his speed and agility likely a major contributor to his survival against the hungry red fox that nightly prowled our yard all winter long.
Mid-afternoon the other day, I headed out of my Roseville Road driveway on my scooter to run errands on the Post Road. From the right, it was totally clear. On my left, only a single vehicle approached from at least 50 yards away.
There was plenty of distance for me to enter the road, especially given the 25 mph speed limit.
However, perhaps 10 seconds later in my side mirror I saw the vehicle behind fast approaching. It then tailgated me dangerously closely as I approached the Post Road red light to turn left.
Although I moved to the right, this driver refused to pass — instead choosing to remain dangerously close behind me.
When I stopped at the light, the driver pulled next to me, and lowered the window.
An older woman with a silver ponytail berated me for “daring to pull out in front” of her.
Although her behavior was shocking, an elderly woman yelling this way was also somewhat comical.
Not the Roseville Road driver. It’s the Little Old Lady From Pasadena…
I calmly informed her that at the time she was quite distant, adding that for her to catch up to me as she did, she had to have been driving extremely fast — perhaps even 50 on a 25mph road.
She loudly and emphatically exclaimed: “I don’t give a shit how fast I was going.”
Nice.
Who this woman is is not important. But her words and attitude are critical.
Later that same afternoon, while leaving the Westport Library I was at the Imperial Avenue stop sign waiting to turn left. As I was about to go, the vehicle approaching from my left blew through this stop sign — slamming the brakes in the intersection only when the driver saw me entering my turn.
Not the car that almost blew past Dr. Walshon. But the same spot. (Photo/Susan Teicher)
As I passed by her window — a stone’s throw from the police station — the young girl driving stiffly stared straight ahead, intentionally refusing to look at me.
A couple of mornings later I discovered AJ lying on Roseville Road, flattened by a tire.
Despite his quickness, agility and survival skills against natural predators, AJ was no match for that encounter.
I’m not suggesting that the woman driver on Roseville was to blame. But very likely, her attitude was.
Please: “Give a shit.”
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AJ the hare.
Though a sad and upsetting end for AJ, Doc, it is my counter argument that, despite such upsetting sites as crushed rabbits, etc, MOST of the tens of thousands of drivers on the rd in Westport (and elsewhere) are shockingly careful and thoughtful compared to what carnage COULD be caused ,were they less so.
Big machines give us fragile humans a hell of a lot of power…Most folks, by far, use that power responsibly…thus we notice and comment on them that don’t.
When someone mentions speeding along with the words Roseville Road, I can’t help but think of “The 60 Mile an hour club” from the 1950s. One had to drive 60 miles an hour on Roseville Rd. for the entire length of street, never going below 60 mph! It was the challenge back in the 1950s and I had a cousin who rolled over his car trying to do it. Anyone remember this Westport challenge from back then?
Jack: I don’t remember the 60 mph club. I do remember how narrow Roseville Road was before it was expanded to its current width—late 50s probably. That road was then so narrow there were spots where cars traveling in opposite directions might scrape each other—-and neither car was ticketed.
Guessing the 60 MPH club arose soon after Roseville was expanded to its current comfortable width.
I don’t want to mention which cousin, but he was born in 1938, so if he rolled his car at age 17 or 18, it’d be 1955 or 1956. I know he graduated from the old Staples. I’d be interested if someone else remembers this “club.” At one time Roseville seemed like a disfunctional side street.
My late Uncle Al had a sticker on the dashboard of his beautiful Buick Electra (circa ‘60’s) that said “Courtesy is Contagious.” Maybe MVD should hand these out, along with continuing Ed classes for the rules of the road. RIP AJ.
It’s not only a Westport problem. We have the same issues in Lexington KY. I’ve advocated Speed Cameras but the arch conservative state government has banned them citing encroachment on citizens freedoms. Bull$&!t
On Friday the car ahead of me on Bridge Street at the South Compo traffic light turned LEFT on the RED light. Seriously?
Be careful. A rabbit could be a young child. There are many unstable angry residents driving motor vehicles. The USA has an epidemic of mentally unstable citizens. Slow down. Be careful.
I spend a lot of time driving and see so many crazy things daily that its frightening. I worry for my children. Dare you go thru and intersection without looking both ways two or three times, and a traffic light always requires a three-count before proceeding. While sometimes its impossible to avoid an animal darting out to cross the road (I think smaller critters do this to avoid being exposed to Hawks) I’m a surprised at those who don’t even try to swerve to avoid ! Squirrel live matter!
What a horrible and upsetting story, and its impact was strong enough without the gore; however, I understand the writer’s extreme anger and frustration. At this time of year especially, we all need to reflect and give ourselves more time to get to where we are going. I’m addition, try a little loving kindness behind the wheel, let the other person go first at that stop sign and be more patient. You just might find that a little civility will make you feel better..and save lives.
This won’t be popular but I’m betting a lot of these drivers are on medication – people here pop pills like candy. The problem is likely deeper than just the driving
Disturbing, horribly sad story. I am always on the lookout for little animals. If I was in charge, I have speed bumps on many roads. God bless AJ precious soul. Please dive responsibly and with respect and kindness for animal and each other
😭 Aj. How terrible. Westport, you’re not alone. We just spent a week driving the Pacific Coast Highway in Southern Oregon to California border. To our beach destination. What a bunch of j…rk drivers sorry to say. Rude, tailgating on windy roads, with boats trailing the back. Something is wrong with people right now. They are crazy!
And in summer, people come from all over the world to bike and camp along that route. And there are homeless that live along the route which is so sad. I worry for those folks. I’m surprised we don’t hear more reports of biker and camper deaths. That all being said, a magnificent drive, some of the best ocean scenery, cool little beach towns with shops and cafes with fresh fish and chowder in US I’m sure. I hope we all can be kinder to each other and allow us all to enjoy life more.
Extremely upsetting! Locally, our neighbors’ lives have been lost recently due to inattentive or speeding drivers. It’s incumbent upon us to do better for our neighbors and ourselves.
I learned to drive in NYC and can only compare it to “choreography on wheels” where 6″ passing or parking was room to spare. When you were honked at it was permission to more out of the way. Clearly it was not for the faint hearted, but it was “normal” if there is such a thing. What’s different about driving in the burbs and in particular Westport is people seem oblivious to anything around them, semi-conscious, and or completely self absorbed. Rules of the road they needed to learn to get a license don’t seem to apply. “Courteous driving”, if they don’t first apply the learned rules, are simply choosing to make your own rules. Living in Westport for the last 25 years the only thing I find shocking is there aren’t many more “accidents”.
We lived here recently, and when I mention to neighbors how inconsiderate and aggressive drivers here are, many say, “Oh, that’s because there are so many New Yorkers who’ve moved here.” We moved here from the city, and I felt safer as a driver, pedestrian, or biker there. I don’t understand why there is no apparent effort to address the problem. Neighbors say the police, fire, and EMT response is immediate when there’s an “accident” (which is the wrong term to use; it excuses the driver, since the cause is almost always reckless disregard for the law, not an inadvertent mistake). In any event, it’s not that reassuring to know that if I’m struck by a reckless/aggressive driver, an ambulance will be on the scene quickly. The primary goal of law enforcement should be prevention, not reaction. How about, for starters, at least installing speed monitors (lots of them) that remind drivers there’s a speed limit and tells them they’re going too fast? And I’m all for cameras and consequences.
(Sorry. That should have read “moved” here recently, not “lived.”)
Dr. Jay’s comments sum up the situation perfectly. The influx of drivers who moved here from NY adds to the growing number of careless, self-concerned drivers who were already here. Maybe we need to be required for testing at license renewal time? May AJ rest in peace.
I cannot help but comment — as I often do in social media posts on this topic, But I confess I’ve never written a comment this long anywhere else. So please, Westport, read this or move on. It’s just electrons. I’m sorry Defoe the imposition but I do feel very strongly about traffic safety.
I am sad at the loss of AJ the hare.
Many years ago — 59 years ago to be exact — I lost my young aunt and my even younger cousin to a drunk driver heading northbound in the southbound lanes of the New Jersey Turnpike just north of the Delaware Memorial Bridge. As my uncle was unconscious for many days in the southern New Jersey hospital to which he was transported, it became the responsibility of my father and mother to drive from Westport to that small hospital to do what no hospital staffer could do: break the news to my other cousin — who survived the accident physically unscathed — that her mother and her brother had been killed. My mother recounted the day to me many years later and said it was among the most horrible days of her life.
Today, my work takes me driving all over Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island. I sometimes drive 1,000 miles in a single week. Recently I drove 800 miles in a single day. Wrong-way drivers are my very worst fear.
I see awful and dangerous driving. All the time. Yes, even on Roseville Road and other places in Westport. I”m the slow and careful driver who tries to observe local speed limits (check that, not always successfully) and might hesitate a moment when a traffic light turns green for fear that another driver will drive right through a red light. I have had several near misses. I know my dashcam would show the light was green for me and the other driver was in the wrong. If I’m injured inan accident, then the dash am evidence is only good for insurance and to avoid prosecution. I’m still injured, however. You might be the impatient driver who honks at me. But if I hesitate, I am sure (so far, to date) to make it safely through the intersection after watching some irresponsible person pass in front of me through the red light on a perpendicular course. And guess what, Mr. or Ms. Impatience? If I cross the intersection safely while you”re honking at me, it means that you will also cross safely, too, in all likelihood.
Connecticut’s roads are awful and dangerous these days. Yes, I know dangerous driving has exploded across America. But sometimes, I am three states in one day including several boroughs of New York City. Connecticut is worse than its neighbors. Believe me!
To wit:
— The Connecticut State Police have publicly documented the terrible increase is deadly wrong-way fatal accidents on the Nutmeg State’s highways. As you may recall, a very recent victim of this was a mother from Westport. On Connecticut Route 9 between New Britain and Middletown, a drunk wrong-way driver killed a well-respected (no, I do not joke when using this expression) state legislator on his way home to Middletown from Hartford. The state DOT has now equipped several exit ramps in places where wrong-way fatalities have been most common with experimental radar detectors on off-ramps from roads such as the Wilbur Cross and Merritt parkways to activate with bright lights and warning signs when a driver heads onto a highway using an exit ramp rather than an entrance ramp. To the astonishment of state officials, these devices have been activated far more often than anyone expected, which means more than a few lives have been thankfully saved. We need many more of these devices, which might have saved my aunt and cousin so long ago and might have saved our Westporter and the Middletown’s state legislator within the past year. (Pro tip, courtesy of a Connecticut state trooper interviewed on television about a year ago: Should you see a wrong-way driver coming at you, move into the *right-hand* lane or the *right* shoulder. The oncoming driver is either confused or impaired by alcohol, drugs, or illness. In their confusion, they likely think they’re safest in what they perceive as their right-hand “slow” lane, which from your perspective is the left-hand fast lane This is why you should move right to have the best opportunity to avoid them. Thank you, Connecticut trooper, for a lifesaving tip.)
— Unlike our neighbor states, we have no mandatory vehicle inspections unlike, say, Massachusetts. The result is far too many vehicles in Connecticut with headlamps and taillights that don’t work, fenders hanging loose, parts dragging on the roadbed causing sparks that could ignite a fire, cracked windshields that impair the driver’s vision, and whatnot other dangers. Excoriate me if you will, but we’d all be safer with mandatory vehicle inspections every year. Damn the fee.
— In itself it’s not a danger, but vehicle enforcement is certainly harder with the number of Connecticut residents who insist on covering their license plates with dark-colored barely translucent plastic shields. I think this began as a way to avoid detection from the cameras at the EasyPass toll gantries in New York, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Rhode Island. If the camera cannot read your license plate, you get a free passage through the toll without triggering a bill sent by mail to you, a bit like illegally hopping over the turnstile on New York’s subways or the T in Boston. I think this has become a stylish affectation, and people do it even if they never leave the state and pass through a toll gantry somewhere else. Although none of this lost toll revenue is lost to Connecticut, it ought to make neighboring governors Kathy Hochul of New York, Phil Murphy of New Jersey, Maura Healy of Massachusetts, and Dan McKee of Rhode Island pretty damned angry at their fellow Democrat and colleague, Gov. Ned Lamont of Connecticut. If Connecticut ever needs an intergovernmental favor from a nearby state, I’d recommend that the other state’s governor lean on our Gov. Lamont in return to propose to the General Assembly and see to the passage of an act outlawing these barely translucent license covers and heavily penalize their use. The other states will thank us. When we impose our own tolls, which we should do ASAP, then this law will recoup money for us, too. Oddly enough, in our neighbor states with tolls and vehicle inspections, I see these covers far less frequently than on our Connecticut streets and highways. Why? I don’t know. I think it’s just more fashionable here.
— Likewise, too many cars in Connecticut — far and away too many cars — bear supposed temporary license tags compared to the other states in which I drive, Funny thing, these supposed temporary tags are never supposedly issued in Connecticut, and always are supposedly from other states. They are usually printed on plain white paper and I cannot help but think there must be websites where someone seeking to avoid Connecticut’s municipal vehicle tax or state registration fees can simply print off a faked temporary tag from another state. Often the state is ridiculously distant from us, like Texas. Folks could drive for years using these fakes and not be caught. But many of them would be caught with mandatory vehicle inspections. This time, it *is indeed* our Connecticut state and local revenue that is being taken from us. So even if the nearby governors don’t pressure Gov, Lamont to rescue them from *their* toll losses, perhaps Lamont on his own could act with legislators to rescue the state and its 169 cities and towns from our own losses.
— Another irritant: cars without license plates. Sometimes the plates are taped haphazardly inside the rear window or placed on the front dashboard, and no doubt a way to avoid theft of the plates. While plates are indeed stolen, I think the frequency of this tactic is again way out of proportion in Connecticut.
— Now let’s return to moving violations. Speeding on local streets in every Connecticut municipality is rampant, in Bridgeport, In New Haven. In Hartford. But also on Roseville Road in Westport. And on roads in the rural northern reaches of Greenwich, north of the Merritt. People actually pass by me when I’m perhaps driving five to ten miles an hour in excess of the posted speed limit, honking their horn, sometimes yelling at me, or laughing at me, or using a crude hand gesture. “It’s a town (or city), not an expressway,” i mutter to myself. Incredibly, they do this when the road is marked with double parallel lines, indicating no passing is allowed. Where are these people heading so impatiently? One day, they’re going to meet a large vehicle coming the other way. They may wind up dead. If I don’t swerve in time, I might be dead, too. You, too.
— Professional drivers I speak with are aghast at the post-pandemic speed increases on the Connecticut Turnpike, the Merritt and Wilbur Cross parkways, and Interstates 91 and 84. Eighty miles per hour is the new standard, which used to be 70mph, even when the limit is 55mph and sometimes even less. I confess (does the State Police read 06880?) that I’ve driven late at night on the Turnpike when traffic is remarkably sparse — say, 3am — at 80mph and it’s a delightfully satisfying experience. Sometimes, especially on I-91 north of Hartford or I-84 east of Hartford, the prevailing speed reaches 90mph. Driving this way is dangerous, even if no other vehicles are nearby. So I’ve restrained myself. A decade ago, I received and deserved two closely-spaced speeding tickets for running 80mph on I-84 in Union and on Massachusetts Route 2 east of the Connecticut River. It took years to work these two tickets off my record, But nowadays, it seems like the plurality of drivers run at 80mph if conditions permit. I’ve restrained myself back down to the speeds that fewer and fewer people maintain, like 65mph or 70mph. (If your experience of the Turnpike or Merritt is only during rush hour, I feel for you and do eat your heart out.) Even at 65mph and 70mph, I still know the danger rises and I’m shaving just a minute or two off my destination arrival time. I know the police try to enforce this. My Waze GPS lets me know where police are and I slow down. It’s a prophylactic action. But that word actually refers to prevention of the spread of infection or disease. When I slow down to avoid the police, I’m just cutting back on spreading the disease of speeding so I don’t get caught. As the state electronic message boards have warned recently, “When speed kills, it’s never an accident.” True, if you think about it! This one message has caused me to slow even more. (Does the Connecticut Department of Transportation read 06880? If so, thank you, DOT — and wait for one more comment coming up.)
— There used to be a folk music quartet established in 1948 in Greenwich Village, N.Y., called The Weavers. Pete Seeger became the most famous member of the group, which was blacklisted and followed by the FBI during the Red Scare of the 1950s. Seeger was even summoned to testify before the U.S. House Committee on Un-American Activities. Well, I think it’s time to ask the Connecticut State Police to follow and track The New Weavers, who are those numbskulls who treat us real drivers on the Turnpike and even the at times the more dangerous Merritt and Wilbur Cross parkways as if the New Weavers were balls in a giant pinball machine; the rest of us are bumpers to make their experience all the more fun. You know these rat finks. You occasionally review the immediate situation behind you with your rear view mirror. Everything is okay. But you never see these idiotic dumbbells coming. Suddenly they whiz past you — coming out of the blind spot on your right side, no less! — weaving with feet or inches to spare between themselves and you and perhaps another vehicle, too, and then weave between other vehicles in front of you. They’re so fast that if you glance far down the highway even a moment later, you can watch them weave in and out until they speed out of sight. About three weeks ago, I observed one of these weavers in a distinctive vehicle. A few minutes later, I spotted that distinctive vehicle parked in the Turnpike’s shoulder. It was stopped. A state trooper with flashing lights was also stopped immediately behind this car. The trooper had caught the bastard. I cheered. Even worse, these days, The New Weavers arrive in pairs. One weaver zips past. I let out the breath I had involuntarily held as the car changed lanes inches in front of me, Before I can inhale the next breath, another weaver zips past. They’re obviously drag racing and the rest of us are either spectators or the next victims, Speaking of the 1950s Weavers folk musician hauled in front of Congress, how about asking the State Police and the state DOT to appear before the state legislature to review the latest best practices across the country for catching weavers and preventing their dangerous driving? If we can lead on wrong-way driving enforcement, can we lead on weaver enforcement? We don’t have to accuse them of being Communists or un-American — just unsafe Americans.
I could go on. And I will. Fortunately, Mr. Dan Woog and 06880 Readers, it’s just electrons I’m using here. If you’ve come this far, stay for the end.
— Passing on the right on the Turnpike and other multi-lane highways. In driver’s education at Staples High School in the fall semester of 1974, I was taught not to pass on the right side of the other vehicle. Just in the past year or two, I’ve truly noticed how many vehicles I miss seeing in my right-hand mirror because of the huge blind spot on the right side of our vehicles. (Imagine the danger years ago when most cars were not equipped with right-side mirrors!) So I’ve brought up that Staples advice from 49 hers ago and I have all but ceased passing on the right. The safe way to pass a car in the far-left lane of the Turnpike, if circumstances allow, is to move to the far right lane and pass from there being now a full lane separated from the vehicle in the left lane. Is the vehicle in the left lane a truck or bus or a vehicle towing a trailer? Fie on them! There’s a sign posted every few miles in the left median reading “No trucks, buses, or trailers in left lane.” Increasingly ignored. The left lane is kind of a refuge for cars. Yet, no longer. Another danger — and those are mostly professional drivers blithely breaking the law, it’s the same law on the New England Thruway in Westchester, if you’re keeping score..
— All-terrain vehicles and motorbikes and scooters. Ugh. Dangerous. In Bridgeport, a woman crossing the street was killed by one of these. I now live in a modern and beautiful loft apartment in the renovated former headquarters of Mechanics & Farmers Savings Bank in downtown Bridgeport; years ago, this former proud bank had a branch on Main Street in Westport. These toy but dangerous ATVs and scooters (and drivers) proliferate in well-organized packs on the downtown streets of Bridgeport, as they do in many other cities and towns. I sometimes park my car across the street from my building’s entrance. I always look out, not so much for cars and buses, but increasingly I watch and listen for these speeding and unduly reckless vehicles, many of which by state law are unlicensed and at night fail to use headlamps. One of my best friends, also a Westporter, owns a legally unlicensed motor scooter. I still think the state should license them! One city, New Haven under Mayor Justin Elicker and its Board of Alders, has made serious effort to regulate these killing toys. Bridgeport under Mayor Joe Garin and the City Council has imposed controls, too. Still these vehicles proliferate in our. iTunes and as well in our towns. Unlike my other complaints, these are not unique to Connecticut in density. They’re all over. And, yes, in Connecticut towns, too; a recent pack in Tolland of all places received media notoriety after the drivers surrounded a sports car and jumped up and down on its hood. I once was surrounded about two years ago late at night by a pack of them on the southbound Van Wyck Expressway in Queens, N.Y. For my safety, I tried to move to the right lane to exit onto the Jackie Robinson Parkway heading toward Brooklyn. I exited. They followed me for a while before I broke free. I called NYC 911 to report them.
— Stop signs and red lights at traffic signals. Yes, people simply ignore them in greater and greater numbers, Besides wrong-way drivers and deer, this is the danger I worry about most, and it”s a fairly new danger to boot. No one ignored stop signs and red lights when I was learning to drive. Not even a few years ago. Now they’re ignored all the time, Inconsiderate drivers speedily turn right on red without looking to the left. Stupid drivers pass through red lights like it’s optional. Someone once said good ethics is what you practice when you stop for a red light at night in rural America while no one else is looking, So shoot me, because I’m an ethical driver. You might be the idiot who suddenly screeches to a stop while I’m waiting alone at a red light at 2am and then honks at me or goes around me at the instant the light turns green. Inevitably I meet this driver a half-mile later at the next red light or stop sign. Which means for all the danger, they’ve gainedperhaps ten feet on me in the long run. Once in a very great while, I tap the horn back at you to angrily make the point, Bur anger while driving is itself a danger to be studiously avoided, Practice patience and gratitude instead.
— Speaking of which, the soon-to-be most populous city in the state, by which I mean Stamford, has clearly used its rapid increase in its Grand List to deploy many splendid traffic signals at intersections and pedestrian crossings. They vividly flash “No Turn On Red” when the signal is red. When the signal turns green, the same sign switches to “Watch Out For Peds,” meaning pedestrians. Stamford also has innovative signals and signage at downtown pedestrian crosssings. I recommend this signage and signaling to Westport. I also commend to Westport the direct but respectful signs Stamford uses to discourage panhandling at major intersections. Westport increasingly has panhandling, particularly at Turnpike Exit 17. Greenwich has copied Stamford’s signs. For a small expenditure, Westport should do likewise. So should every other municipality similarly affected. (Stamford’s street markings are also worth studying.)
— I mentioned one more comment for anyone reading this at Connecticut DOT. Here it is: I’m glad for the amazing Turnpike renovation and improvement work straddling the Westport-Norwalk border, including the impressive assembles-in-place Sauatuck Avenue bridge replacement, replicating your bridge replacement several years ago on the combined Routes 8-25 in Bridgeport over Capitol Avenue. This long renovation is needed, and as state Sen. Bob Duff explained in the newspaper a year or so ago, it’s the final segment in a multi-stage program renovating the Turnpike between New Haven and Greenwich. (Which means as soon as oyr segment is wrapped up, it’ll be time for another renovation project.) But, hey, DOT!!, the necessary pain of this project day and night is, I contend, needlessly and even unsafely increased by the miles-long segment of solid-lined lanes supposedly preventing changing lanes. I’ve entered this segment westbound after Exit 18 at Sherwood island driving in the left lane or middle lane and then realized I had planned to leave the Turnpike miles later at Exit 17, Exit 16, or Exit 15. So I have to make an illegal movement into the right lane in preparation to exit. Other drivers simply illegally change lanes because no one cares anymore about solid lines. Not to be bothered by them, I guess. So I change lanes illegally and regret my lack of forethought before passing Exit 18. Same thing in reverse coming east out of Norwalk.
— Wildlife. This brings us back to the impetus for this “comment,” — yes, an essay, actually, which was the late AJ, the hare who met his or her end on Roseville Road. Wildlife in itself can be dangerous. Deer certainly slip onto roads and highways in a flash and as they cliche goes, they stare at your headlights while they freeze. The wise driver — especially at night! — uses deer as a primary motivation to slow down and pay attention to the margins of the road. I’ve hit one deer, nine years ago, southbound on I-84 in Ashford. I was driving a rental moving van, so in that case, being in a heavy and large van, I won and the deer population was reduced that night. But in my Toyota Camry sedan, it’d be a different story. At night I see deer all the time, even in the road in front of me, I credit caution for my lack of even a close encounter of the ungulate kind. But I marvel at seeing more nocturnal wildlife than I ever expected, and I’m glad to avoid them. I see skunks and raccoons skittering across the road in front of me, I see ducks and geese and turkeys. I see dogs and coyotes and foxes. And cats. But no jaguars or tigers or lions. Speaking of lions and tigers, I have yet to see one of Connecticut’s reported bears, thank God. And far more often than daytime drivers might think, I see rabbits. AJ is lost to us, but AJ has lots of relatives because they reproduce like, well, you know. They’re gentle animals and none of them deserve AJ’s miserable fate. I just met a Yale student who keeps a rabbit as a pet in her college dormitory, apparently now permitted by Yale! So we must slow down and watch out for our safety and theirs, too — by which I mean rabbits, not Yalies.
Roseville Road is dangerous. I’m sure I have sped too fast in Roseville, too, Growing up in the Westport of the 1960s and 1970s, I curse and very, very, very, very occasionally out of long-ingrained habit miss stopping at four stop signs in town that did not exist when I learned to drive: (1) the middle of Roseville Road, (2) on the steep slope of North Avenue descending northward from the Merritt overpass, (3) on Long Lots Road at North Avenue, and, lastly (4), Long Lots at High Point Road, which contains the last and the longest tenured of the three houses in which I lived growing up in Westport. Just two houses down from a guy named Dan Woog!
Our Connecticut roads and highways are really dangerous. Trust me on this. Slow down. Watch out. Advocate for the state and municipal policies and improvements to build safer roads, encourage safer driving, and better enforce laws old and new. Practice patience. Practice gratitude, Practice patience, again and again. You’ll get where you’re going, safely. AJ’s animal relatives and our fellow human beings deserve our attention. (Even Yalies,too,)
every time i drive somewhere, i lose count how many times cars in the oncoming lane are crossing the double yellow and entering into my lane. its out of control. some times they are just not paying attention or driving poorly, other times they must think because their lane is impeded by a bicycler, walker, car parked, etc, that they can blindly drive into oncoming traffic without stopping and waiting for an all clear.
that story is poignant and illustrates the careless driving we experience on a daily basis driving in Westport. I have never seen more drivers blow through stop signs, make dangerous turns, switch lanes without signaling, etc. It is a local phenomenon and not as a result of New Yorkers who’ve moved here. this town is in desperate need of traffic enforcement.
Out of every 100 cars driving inn06880 how many are on their phone illegally ?? Texting. Looking for directions. Speaking. ?? Take a guess ?
Richard, when I’m driving through 06880 I’m usually on my phone playing Wordle. Maybe I’ll lead with, crash tomorrow!
Beep Beep.
When I saw the picture of AJ the hare I thought it looked similar to the NY Yankees.
This was a disturbing post to read this morning. My guess is that I stopped driving on highways around 15 years ago, so around age 59. I wasn’t always afraid of highways. I drove from Wallingford to Texas once and back with a U-Haul on my car. If my life depended on it, I couldn’t do that today. I may be naive, but I don’t think my generation intimidated people so much that they had to stop using highways. I was at my hairdresser’s last week, and another customer said she also stopped driving on highways some years ago. This is fundamentally not right, that people are afraid to use highways. It’s bad enough just driving around town. We have crazy drivers here too. It is always necessary to wait several seconds after your light turns green because some idiot flies across the intersection through a red light. The people who pass me illegally often get to the stoplight or stop sign a few seconds before I arrive. I am not sure what is making people so impatient and in such a hurry. RIP to AJ. His death was very unfortunate. Let’s hope it isn’t a person the next time.
It’s happening more and more frequently in town. Happens fo me when I’m at my garden.
Cars pulling off like they’re about to take flight.
Running stop signs almost colliding.
Sitting at the stop sign on their phone.
One time a car passed the double yellow line, around a car at a stop sign through the intersection.
Sorry about AJ, so sad.
If and when you see something:
Make and model of car, color, direction going in and description of driver. I know this stuff happens quick but car details is important.
203-341-6000 #9
indescribably terrible. encounter careless drivers everyday in Westport. little regard for the law. even the police cars often do not signal. Key Phrase: SLOW DOWN.