To the Editor:

October 1 is a day I can never forget. On that day in 1994, my daughter was killed in an automobile accident. In her case, the cause was a drunk driver. Any death in a car accident, however, brings horror, disbelief, pain, never-ending grief, and a loss that cannot be recovered.

I hope that I can make those feelings understood to people who drive our overcrowded roads, often too fast, and with not enough regard for their surroundings. I hope that those feelings are especially important to our traffic engineers, administrators, mayors, legislators, governors, and departments of transportation. They, of all people have our lives in their hands, when they plan with disregard for consequences.

A direct example is the lack of thought for safety in the New Jersey Department of Transportation experiment involving the loss of jug handles at Washington Rd. and the traffic snarl at Harrison Street and Route 1. I imagine you have been reading about drivers making U and K turns in Penns Neck to get back on a straight road into Princeton; about huge trucks driving through narrow suburban streets to avoid a longer trip; about drivers spending extra time getting to work and coming home; about racing automobiles tearing down streets not made for speed. Can you imagine what this is like for the parents and children who live on those streets? The DOT wants to make traffic move faster on Route 1, but at the expense of our neighborhoods. I am outraged by this disregard for life, whether caused by lack of caring, incompetence, or politics. The experiment that has some weeks to go must be stopped NOW before a tragedy occurs.

Are you listening Governor Christie? Are you listening DOT Commissioner Simpson? Can you help us Senators Menendez and Lautenberg? And Representative Holt? This is a cry for help, and we need you as soon as possible. Please listen to someone who has been through the unimaginable.

Paula McGuire

Washington Road