Voice of the People

By Michelle J. Baird ; Ron Jones York

Road lines might have prevented accident

I am writing in response to the horrific accident that occurred outside Forest Oaks Apartments on Sunday.

I have been a resident of Forest Oaks Apartments going on six years now, and I enter and leave the complex every day to go to work. Leaving the complex can be tricky, especially if you need to cross the westbound lane to head east, simply because of the speed of traffic coming from the stop light at Heckle and Herlong. It is not because the line of sight is blocked by a large bush.

It seems to me that the problem started with the paving of Heckle and S.C. 901. The lines on the sides of the road and the lines that designate the turn lane into Forest Oaks have not been repainted since the paving. Because there are no painted lines, people leaving the apartment complex are unsure of how far they can pull up, so they stop back where the concrete drive of the complex stops and the blacktop begins. Stopping back this far will cause your vision to be blocked by a bush that sits on the corner. Seeing oncoming traffic was never an issue when you pulled up to the painted line that used to be there.

I wonder now if this horrible accident could have been prevented by simply finishing a job and repainting the lines. I suppose we will never know.

Get insurance companies out of the debate

I, for one, can't figure out why the Republicans are fighting national health care. I'm ready to stop paying the insurance companies that have roped America with the highest cost for health care anywhere in the world. Let's put the insurance companies out of the picture altogether in the health care system as they are not whatsoever interested in your health, just your money.

And while we are at it, let's get the government to provide life insurance, too. If they will pick up the tab on burial in America, this would save the American worker a lot of money.

And another way to help the American taxpayer would be to provide some kind of deal for auto drivers to put a stop to the high cost of auto insurance.

If the average American worker would add up what they pay for these items, they would be all for national insurance at no cost. So all I have to say to the Republican Party is get on board with a free-for-all in American. If it's free it's for me!

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