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I recently read in The Inter-Mountain that the City of Elkins has been awarded a grant to purchase cameras to be placed at intersections within Elkins.
My hope is that the cameras will be used not only to track criminals that may be passing through the city but also that law enforcement will use the cameras in order to write citations for violations of traffic laws.
I also hope that some cameras will be placed at "static" intersections where only stop signs are located. If not maybe, the City of Elkins will decide to replace current stop signs with yield signs. Yes, I'm being facetious but it concerns me that a large number of drivers ignore stop signs at intersections. Allow me to present a few examples.
On Mother's Day, my wife and I were returning from church. We were fifth in line at the intersection of Rt. 219 and Laurel Mountain Road. After the first car in line turned left to proceed south on Rt. 219, the next three cars also turned south without stopping. At the intersection of Heavener Avenue and North Randolph Avenue a motorcycle turned south onto North Randolph Avenue without stopping.
Then at the Veterans Memorial intersection we had the green light to proceed onto Railroad Avenue, yet a vehicle coming from Harrison Avenue turned right onto Railroad Avenue without stopping. We then arrived at the intersection of Wilson Street and Davis Avenue. When the light turned green we turned right onto Davis Avenue and proceeded south.
At the same time, a pickup was traveling north on Davis Avenue, and even though the light for him was red, he proceeded to turn left onto Wilson Avenue without slowing down.
As we approached Whiteman Avenue, a different pickup turned right onto South Davis Avenue from Whiteman Avenue, again without slowing down. So within a distance of two miles I witnessed seven traffic violations.
State code allows us to turn right on a red light or at a stop sign but only after coming to a complete stop, unless disallowed by another traffic sign. It seems that this statute is commonly ignored.
This is an everyday occurrence in South Elkins. At any time of the day I can step out of my house and within five minutes witness drivers turning right and left onto Scott Ford Road without stopping at the stop sign at the end of the street.
A few years ago in the evening I sat at Jennings Randolph Elementary School, which is at the intersection of Scott Ford Road and South Gate Road. In one hour's time I counted 57 cars pass through the three-way intersection without coming to a complete stop.
Also, if you ever travel on the Ward Road, please look both ways before you turn onto the Beverly five-lane, even if you have a green light. Cars and trucks commonly roll through that intersection even when they have a red light.
I know that I sound like a grumpy old man and maybe I am, but my hope is that the cameras will be used to write citations and not just to observe vehicles as they pass through our fair city. Thank you for your time.
Greg Hott
Elkins