Slow down, pay attention

I have wanted to write this letter to the editor for years. I started driving farm equipment here in the 60s, as did most of my classmates from the HSCHS Class of 68. We got our driver’s license at 15 years of age.

I joined the Army at 17 where I drove 2.5 ton to 25 ton trucks. A year in Vietnam and 3 years in Germany with a couple of drivers’ academies. I crewed Hueys for the next 8 years, driving my car in Panama seeing how people drive in Central America – Honduras/El Salvador.

After I retired from the Army, I drove 18 wheelers, 48 states and Canada for 10 years and a million miles. I was a Certified Driver Trainer for a year of the 6 years with Martin Thomas Port.

I moved back to Thermopolis in 2006 where I’m surprised that I haven’t had a wreck with people pulling out in front of me, almost hitting them. The speed limits in Thermopolis are 20 mph downtown and on most other streets 30 mph including on US 20 and WYO 120, 6th St., Shoshoni and parts of Park and Broadway west and 20 mph in the park.

High school kids, it’s 20 mph in your school zone during school. Doing donuts in the back buffalo pasture is destroying public property and a crime. Riding someone’s bumper is illegal too. It’s called aggressive driving.

Some of you transplants from out of state have brought your bad driving habits, too, texting and driving a lot. More people are killed in auto accidents than in all World War I and II. Some of you drivers are accidents looking for a place to happen. I could write more each week for months.

Rich Simpson