I can no longer control the angry voice inside of me that keeps saying, "North County must have some of the most reckless drivers in America."

Last month, my wife, son and I were waiting for the light to change at the intersection of Centre City Parkway and Citracado Parkway. Suddenly we saw a streak of red racing at us. The driver of a pickup speeding south on Centre City had apparently decided to navigate the turn onto Citracado, failed, bounced over the curb by the stoplight and somehow managed to slip through the opening between our car and the car ahead of us. The pickup bounced over the other curb, raced up a small embankment, spun the tires to change direction and sped away in a westerly direction on Citracado. If my wife hadn't left an opening between our car and the car ahead of us, someone in our vehicle would probably have been killed. Yet, the driver acted like it was a normal way to make a turn at an intersection.

The next day a speeding van ran a stop sign at the intersection of Hamilton and Gamble. I anticipated that the driver was not going to stop because I had seen other drivers ignore the same stop signs. I was right. Another driver and I just shook our heads as the van sped through the intersection.

Over the past five years, I have nearly been run over twice in parking lots when drivers, without looking in their rearview mirrors, accelerated while their cars were in reverse gear. A child standing in the same spot would have been run over. I have had to take evasive action on numerous occasions to avoid cars running red lights or stop signs. I have driven past several intersection accidents, including one traffic fatality.

My wife has also been involved in two accidents. In the first accident, an unlicensed driver ran into her car. The second accident was a hit-and-run. The driver of that vehicle sped out of a parking lot, drove my wife's car into a retaining wall and sped away.

Car-Accidents.com revealed some frightening national statistics. According to the Web site, "There were nearly 6,420,000 auto accidents in the United States in 2005 … 2.9 million people were injured and 42,636 people killed. About 115 people die every day in vehicle crashes in the United States -- one death every 13 minutes."

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration revealed that in 2005, California had a "12.0 fatality rate per 100K population," slightly below the national average of 14.7. San Diego County had the fourth highest number of traffic fatalities of California's 58 counties.

I have been paying more attention to the North County Times' reporting of area traffic accidents and fatalities. Many of these accidents were easily avoidable if the drivers responsible had slowed down and heeded basic safe-driving practices. Instead, they ran red lights, made unsafe lane changes or sped through stop signs.

The sad truth is that far too many of the automobile accidents and fatalities in our area are the result of reckless disregard for human life -- and that puts all of us at risk.

Escondido resident Dennis M. Clausen is a freelance columnist for the North County Times and a professor of American literature at the University of San Diego.

Most reckless drivers in America?

I can no longer control the angry voice inside of me that keeps saying, "North County must have some of the most reckless drivers in America."

Last month, my wife, son and I were waiting for the light to change at the intersection of Centre City Parkway and Citracado Parkway. Suddenly we saw a streak of red racing at us. The driver of a pickup speeding south on Centre City had apparently decided to navigate the turn onto Citracado, failed, bounced over the curb by the stoplight and somehow managed to slip through the opening between our car and the car ahead of us. The pickup bounced over the other curb, raced up a small embankment, spun the tires to change direction and sped away in a westerly direction on Citracado. If my wife hadn't left an opening between our car and the car ahead of us, someone in our vehicle would probably have been killed. Yet, the driver acted like it was a normal way to make a turn at an intersection.

The next day a speeding van ran a stop sign at the intersection of Hamilton and Gamble. I anticipated that the driver was not going to stop because I had seen other drivers ignore the same stop signs. I was right. Another driver and I just shook our heads as the van sped through the intersection.

Over the past 5 years, I have nearly been run over twice in parking lots when drivers, without looking in their rear view mirrors, accelerated while their cars were in reverse gear. A child standing in the same spot would have been run over. I have had to take evasive action on numerous occasions to avoid cars running red lights or stop signs. I have driven past several intersection accidents, including one traffic fatality.

My wife has also been involved in 2 accidents. In the first accident, an unlicensed driver ran into her car. The second accident was a hit and run. The driver of that vehicle sped out of a parking lot, drove my wife's car into a retaining wall and sped away.

Car-Accidents.com revealed some frightening national statistics. According to the web site, "There were nearly 6,420,000 auto accidents in the United States in 2005 Š 2.9 million people were injured and 42,636 people killed. About 115 people die every day in vehicle crashes in the United States-one death every 13 minutes."

(http://www.car-accidents.com/pages/stats.html)

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration revealed that in 2005, California had a "12.0 Fatality Rate per 100K Population," slightly below the national average of 14.7. San Diego County had the 4th highest number of traffic fatalities of California's 58 counties.

(http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2006/09/04/news/top_stories/9306181910.txt)

I have been paying more attention to the North County Times' reporting of area traffic accidents and fatalities. Many of these accidents were easily avoidable if the drivers responsible had slowed down and heeded basic safe-driving practices. Instead, they ran red lights, made unsafe lane changes or sped through stop signs.

The sad truth is that far too many of the automobile accidents and fatalities in our area are the result of reckless disregard for human life-and that puts all of us at risk.

Escondido resident Dennis M. Clausen is a freelance columnist for the North County Times and a professor of American literature at the University of San Diego.