It never ceases to amaze me how completely and obliviously rude and insensitive people can be. The foremost issue I have is that of safety. Traffic heading west on Shepherdstown Road (Route 45E), coming around the turn onto Woodbury Avenue/East Moler Avenue is treacherous to say the least. I am a Shepherd University student who happens to live on Creasey Way, off of Woodbury Avenue.

The green light at the intersection of East Moler Avenue, Woodbury Avenue and Shepherdstown Road lasts a solid three minutes from East Moler onto Shepherdstown Road. The green light from Woodbury onto Shepherdstown Road lasts no longer than a whopping 15 seconds, creating a sense of urgency in the drivers heading east to speed up to “beat the red light”. The light at the intersection going west from Shepherdstown Road onto Woodbury Avenue, goes from red to red with a green arrow meaning, if you are in the lane governed by the arrow proceed carefully in the direction of the arrow after yielding the right-of-way to other vehicles and pedestrians. If you don’t intend to go in the direction of the arrow and you are not in that lane, you have to wait for a green arrow, or a full green light. I endure the wait, often through several light changing sequences, for the opportunity to pull out of my street onto Woodbury Avenue heading east. This presents itself either when a rare, kind soul is not in a hurry to be somewhere yesterday, or as a bold stomp on the gas, a vise-grip on the steering wheel, teeth clenched and a prayer sent up that I won’t be “T-boned” by a Mario Andretti wanna-be coming around the blind curve onto Woodbury. One day, that very situation nearly happened when a lady waved me through the intersection. I had just begun to press the gas pedal when a man on a cell phone in a black Lincoln Navigator came barreling onto Woodbury Avenue. If I had been just a few seconds and a few more feet into the intersection that day, my new husband would have become a widower. The white line on Woodbury Avenue needs to be moved back a few feet, and time added to the traffic light.

Most days are “quiet”; however, when 5 p.m. rolls around, it seems the sirens come every couple of hours; the majority being law enforcement. It disturbs me, when I can hear the engine of a law enforcement official’s vehicle long before it arrives at the intersection where I live. By virtue of some streets these officers travel down at a high rate of speed being barely the width of two vehicles, also being congested with traffic traveling at speeds above the posted limit around the blind curve mentioned above, I believe it’s not a question of if an accident involving a law enforcement vehicle will happen, but when.

Veronica Rorrer-Miller

Martinsburg