Do you exceed the speed limit when driving in town? Specific maximum speeds are posted in the towns of Halifax, South Boston, Scottsburg and Virgilina. But all too often you see drivers whizzing by at speeds far greater than the posted limits.

It’s disconcerting to be working in the yard or sitting on the front porch, and someone speeds by in a car or truck doing 50 or faster in a 25 mph zone. And folks, that’s in a residential area!

As the weather gets warmer, more children will be playing outside. I certainly hope they don’t play in the street, but occasionally a ball will get away and bounce in the street. And children being children, they have the tendency to chase after it.  

Children are taught not to dart out in the street without looking, but they sometimes forget when they’re playing outside. A vehicle comes speeding down the street, and a catastrophe may occur.

Lower speed limits are posted in our towns for a reason. Obey them and avoid a tragedy. It’s bad enough when adults are injured in a motor vehicle crash, but when a child is hurt it’s even more terrible.

School will be letting out for the summer soon, and even more kids will be outside enjoying the warm sunny days.

Please be careful, watch for kids playing, and slow down in town.

To Toll Or Not To Toll

Last week Governor McDonnell proposed charging a toll on I-95 near the North Carolina line.

If approved, the state would charge $1 to $2 per axle, which would bring in an estimated $30 to $60 million to use first for safety improvements and then for improvements to paving and infrastructure.

Maryland currently charges motorists $5 on the John F. Kennedy Memorial Highway section of I-95 and a $2 toll in both directions at the Fort McHenry Tunnel. Delaware charges a $4 toll on I-95.

Why shouldn’t Virginia get in on the toll game, especially when it will help the state’s transportation coffers? Anyone who has traveled in, through or near Richmond has paid tolls along Powhite Parkway and on 295. And who could forget the nickel bridge, or Boulevard Bridge, that now costs 35 cents to cross. Inflation hits everywhere!
Personally, I think the toll on I-95 is a good move for Virginia, but the feds will have to approve it. It is an interstate highway, and doesn’t that mean we’ve already paid for it?

After all, we’re still paying federal excise tax on tires. That started back during World War II when rubber was being diverted to the war effort, but the war has been over for 65 years now.

Golly, how much rubber did a B-17 need?