Drive safely
Drive safely
More comments on my letter to the editor of Dec. 24, 2015 (“Drive safe”).
A friend corrected my comment on drivers turning left on the red light at Kilauea Avenue to Kekuanaoa Street. He said those three drivers did not yield to the right of way and proceeded to turn left on the green light counting on us not proceeding until they made their turns. Many of us do not dart out the instant our light turns green because we know drivers will do this. In my case, that third driver who sped through making that left turn could not be seen by me because the driver next to me already was proceeding out and blocked my view, hence my jamming my brakes to avoid hitting him.
However there are drivers turning left on the red light because I have been behind them to witness it.
Another bad spot is where Kilauea Avenue heading toward downtown turns to one way at Ponahawai Street. One very rainy day, I was in the left lane of Kilauea Avenue, right where the entrance to Subway is. The driver to the right of me probably did not realize Kilauea Avenue is one way and turned left right in front of me, causing me to really jam my brakes to avoid hitting him. It was such a close call that I was really upset and wanted to confront that driver, but did not. Later my friend said never to confront these drivers as a friend of his who did, was shown a gun by the offending driver.
It upsets me that people continue to drive not following the rules of safe driving and they endanger many innocent people. Is it worth saving a minute by cutting in front of drivers, turning left trying to beat the other driver, not making signals, speeding, and worst of all, driving while drinking. We have a support group called STARS for families of victims killed by homicide or negligent homicide (drunk driving). If you could witness the suffering of the surviving families who lost loved ones this way, you would think twice before drinking and driving. You can contact STARS at starscommitteehawaii@gmail.com.
As the holiday celebrations continue, please drive safely and think of others by being considerate and being good citizens of our beloved islands.
Irene A. Nagao
Hilo
Humane assistance
We would like to express our heartfelt appreciation to the Keaau Humane Society for its kind and dedicated assistance during the early hours of Christmas morning.
Our beloved 16-year-old dog, Rusty, apparently was spooked by a few booming fireworks in the neighborhood and bolted from our fenced yard while we were sleeping. Rusty had wandered off and fallen 20 feet into a nearby stream. A neighbor family heard his cries and alerted us.
Our early morning call to the Humane Society’s 24-hour emergency number was met with a swift search for the nearest Humane Society worker. Marie met us at 4:30 a.m., quickly assessed his condition, and then gently and humanely ended Rusty’s very painful suffering.
We want to praise the Humane Society and share our sincere thanks for the work they do for our Big Island community. We most especially want to thank Marie for making this tragic Christmas event a lot less traumatic.
Lina Manning and Lewis Moore
Papaikou