Maine roads....????? (Auburn, Naples, Washington: construction, maintenance, license)

[ExAirForce]

You haven't seen narrow roads with no shoulders and horrible paint on the road until you have driven here in Europe. ;-) 4 years of driving in Turkey and 8 years of driving in Germany have given me the "opportunity" to drive on very tight roads.... One thing I have noticed is that driver's licenses are earned here in Europe after long serious training and allot of money. It is not just a right of passage to become a teenager as it is in the states. Kids will be kids but it is crazy now days.... add some alcohol, a cell phone, and peer pressure and you have all the ingrediants for an accident waiting to happen.

[Elcarim]

I guess it's all the more important we do our jobs as parents and police them going out and let the officials police them WHILE they're out. The term "it takes a village" comes to mind. That's one of the many plusses I see to living in a small, tight-knit community. I want to know when my kids are in trouble before they have a chance to call. The "Neighborhood Watch" should apply to our kids, too!

[AlisonL]

Its all not teens though. I've seen far too many adult women putting on their makeup as they are driving. And grown men reading the paper....now that is really stupid. Or the folks who are watching a video while driving. Odds are they are probably the parents of the teens.
My hubby is on the roads daily and he seems some very scary things.

[flycessna]

Originally Posted by bigchuckie

Are those crossings active? Maine's RR bz is practically gone.

Absolutley! Very active in that going to school and coming home I have been held up by a train.

[msina]

Cars are machines,.. we wouldn't allow our kids to go into a factory and operate large dangerous machines, yet we let them operate these moving weapons often without enough training for safety and proper operation. When you add in the distractions of phones, music and friends it can be a set up for disaster. I still would much rather my kids learn here than in Massachusetts. The population being lower, there are fewer vehicles and more places to take them to practice and learn defensive driving.

[Zymer]

They say that the best defense is a good offense.

I still would much rather my kids learn here than in Massachusetts. The population being lower, there are fewer vehicles and more places to take them to practice and learn defensive driving.

If you let them learn in Boston they will get some of the best defensive driving lessons you could ask for.

[flycessna]

Originally Posted by forest beekeeper

Since moving here, we have heard news reports of head-on collisions, from folks driving on the center line.

I have been caused to veer off onto the shoulder multiple times, by folks coming at me hanging significantly over the center lane and into my lane. This does happen more frequently in curves. The vehicles in the outside lane of a curve will commonly leave their lane to negotiate a curve by driving in the on-coming lane.

We have also seen here locally, a couple deaths from teens in a car goofing with their friends in the car, and pulling out in front of traffic. The law requires that as a young driver, they can not be carrying other teens. But it seems to be not enforced, and parents allow their teens to borrow their cars packed with teens.

We moved here just as two local teens died while pulling out onto a road in front of a cement truck. The next week, I stopped for a vehicle that was having mechanical problems, and this 17 yr old girl had four other teens in the car with her. They get to talking and laughing and screaming and no body is watching the road.

My wife was in an accident in Bangor. She was at an intersection, turning to get onto I-95. She had a green light. Another car operated by a teen with three other teens in it, blew through two red lights and hit her head-on. The teen was driving on a learner's permit. She had to call her mother to come to the scene so there would be a licensed driver present before the police got there. The teen's vehicle had nobody in it with a license.

Exactly! I have seen so many head on collisions, Broad side, and single vehicle fatalities because of poorly designed road ways and or roads that have not changed with the times. I try to expect as least as possible from government but I would like to see a lot more investment into improving our roadways.

ExAirForce is right. Getting a license here is way too easy. I paid $5000.00 to get my pilots license (cost of overhead..I know) but whats it really cost to be licensed to drive a car. And let me tell you.....flying a small plane...esp. in Maine is so much easier than driving a car safely. Charge more for kids to learn how to drive. Have different steps in obtaining their license (ex. A daytime only, B. 5am to 10pm passangers 18>, C fully licensed with a probation.) also have madatory federaly guidlined tests. Ect. Use the extra money for better designed and maintained transportation system.

[forest beekeeper]

The driving problems that we have seen, have been from:
1- bad drivers [ie, drivers who insist on straddling both lanes];
2- in-attentive drivers [ie, teens chatting with other teens, cellphones, etc];
3- or bad technique [taught to drive in an insane manner].

I do not see any of this as related to poor road design.

I have driven on far worse roads. Cairo was the worst, followed by Naples. Compared to areas that truly do have poor roads, these roads are fine.

[bbb3601]

Here in Columbus,Ohio a new law passed that prohibits anyone under 18 from driving after 10:00pm unless work. Also no more than one fellow teen passenger that is non family.

[DavidoftheNorth]

One problem is trailer trucks driving on back roads and through towns because they exceed the 80,000 lbs. weight limit required by I-95, i.e. the Feds. They cause extra wear and tear to the secondary roads. I think they should equalize (or reduce) the weight limits on all roads to reduce this problem.