To the editor: Summer or winter, it doesn’t matter. We have drivers who are unable to drive the posted speed limit, refuse to drive at or allow others to drive at a safe speed when road conditions are bad, or just need to be at the front of all cars at the stoplight. Whatever the reason is, they weave in and out of traffic, ride someone’s bumper, and speed around and past you at the slightest possible opening. This will never change.
Wednesday, Feb. 2, one such driver sped around a snow grader and, because they were unaware that another grader was in front of it, they “plowed” into it and ultimately caused a 10-car pileup. It was a beautiful, sunny, clear day. There was no new, fresh snow to make the roads slick. It was one driver’s impatience that caused the accidents.
Kinross is planning to have double trailer (90 to 120 feet long) ore trucks driving between Tetlin and Fort Knox mine every 7-8 minutes loaded with 80 tons of ore and then driving back weighing 40 tons.
I’m not going to mention what it will do to our roads and cost us, the taxpayers, to maintain those roads. What I want to point out is the safety issue. We have those unsafe drivers, like the one who caused the Feb. 2 accidents. How are they going to behave with those trucks traveling every 7-8 minutes in both directions? What happens when the roads are slick, covered in snow or covered in ice fog? What happens when we have large motor homes and travel trailers mixed in with the ore trucks?
Every winter when it snows, we have unsafe drivers causing accidents or ending up in the ditch. We have enough of a problem with them without adding Kinross ore trucks to the mix. Kinross needs to come up with a better plan that does not utilize our road system.
