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2022/04/12 - Mayor's Column: Spring Time Safety and Happy Easter

“AN OPEN DOOR TO O’FALLON”
A WEEKLY NOTE FROM MAYOR HERB ROACH
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Spring is here and that means many of our children are going to be outside playing and riding bikes.  More children will be walking or riding bikes to and from school or sporting activities.

Please take a little extra precaution when driving in town. Children don’t always watch as carefully as those of us old enough to drive. So, if I could just offer a few suggestions:

  1. Make sure you come to a complete stop at stop signs and look carefully. Someone may dart out in a hurry to catch up with friends or they think that you will come to a stop. How much extra time did you make by rolling through a stop sign or red light?
  2. Be extra careful when you see children riding bikes or skateboards on the side of the road or sidewalk. It only takes a slight loss of balance to cause a bike/skateboard and child to fly out in front of traffic.
  3. Please observe the speed limits.  It is much easier to stop when traveling 25 m.p.h. vs 50 m.p.h.
  4. When traveling through residential areas, near parks, or schools, be more observant of children darting out because they are chasing a friend, dog or a baseball that got away.

It wasn’t too many weeks ago that a small 8-year-old little girl was seriously injured in an accident when a driver veered into the wrong lane and was speeding. That little girl wasn’t doing anything wrong but now is going through some very extensive rehabilitation because one driver did not make a good decision.

Your assistance in helping keep our streets safe for our children and others is greatly appreciated.

I hope that everyone will be able to enjoy the warm weather of spring in happiness and fun. My family and I will soon be gathering to celebrate Easter. I want to wish everyone in O’Fallon a happy and safe Easter!

As residents of O’Fallon, you should always be able to reach out to your elected officials and ask questions about what is happening in O’Fallon. Having open communications is important to me and something I care very deeply about. Thank you for reading, and please remember, my door is always open.