By Staff
Our View
At Monday's City Council meeting, a group of residents approached the council in hopes of finding a resolution to the growing problem of speeding in town, particularly along Main Street. As reported in the Advance, the council agreed that not only speeding but other driving violations were a growing problem all over the city.
One potential solution for the speeding along Main Street was presented by Glen Carlee: change back the caution lights at Horner Street and Owens Street to red lights. Something else discussed was a possible turning lane implemented at the intersection of Main Street and Craig Street. The problem is that we as residents of Atmore can make no changes to Main Street, no matter how much we feel they are needed.
Because of Main Street being a State Highway, any changes have to come through the office of the Alabama Department of Transportation. As Mayor Shell said, we can offer suggestions, but the change has to come through the DOT. It is these suggestions that we hope are both heard and considered. According to Carlee, similar requests have been denied in the past.
At the council meeting Shell said that he would see about having an engineer come back and reevaluate the situation. We ask that the engineer to listen not only to his numbers and statistics, but to the people who live in this town. Listen to the pleas of those that feel they can't use the sidewalks along Main Street, because of the speeding traffic.
A story comes to mind that was told at Tuesday's Academic All-Stars by guest speaker, Attorney General Troy King. The story goes something like this. There was once a young man that had been trained in First Aid and safety. One day he came upon an accident with an older gentlemen leaning over the victim, who was lying on the ground. The young man sprung into action and went to help the victim. The young man began to tell the older gentlemen to please step away from the victim as he shuffled through his pockets for a small red book. The older gentlemen began to protest, however, was immediately silenced by the young man. "Sir, you must step back and let me work here. I am a trained professional and know what I need to do." The older gentlemen stepped back as he watched the young man read through his book and then apply his fingers to the victim's neck, checking for a pulse. After a few moments the older gentlemen stepped forward and began to offer some advice. Before his first word could be uttered, the young man said, "Please sir, if I am going to help this man, you must step back and allow me to work." The older gentlemen politely stepped back, but interjected, "Young man, I only wanted to say that when you come to the point your book says to get a doctor, I am right here."
As this story illustrates, even though we feel that we might have all the tools and know exactly what to do, it is always wise to listen to those that are most familiar with a particular situation.