Drivers in Smiths Falls: Heads up!

It’s a beautiful, sunny, mid-summer afternoon. I am driving my daughter to her soccer game. We are on our way to pick up Grandma. She never misses a game. We are chatting about all things important to a five-year-old girl. She strongly recommends that our family get a monster truck.

“Crash, bang!” A man leaps out of the passenger side of the car that just crashed into ours. I immediately look to my daughter and ask if she’s alright.

“Are you guys okay?”  The man asks.

“Ya, I think so. What about you guys?” I reply.

Then a bunch of people from the neighborhood come out, asking if we need anything. There is a lady with a little white dog, helping me comfort my daughter. The driver of the other car apologizes profusely. She says she’s new to the area and did not see the stop sign. Some of the people around are telling me that this happens here a lot, and that there was a similar accident nearby just last week. The police come and take a report. A tow truck driver shows up as well to take the cars away. I have a friend come pick me up. We head over to the hospital to make sure my daughter is not hurt.

Of course, I post a picture of the crash to Facebook once I get home, asking the community if they think this intersection may pose a risk to the safety of the public. I mention the intersection, Russel St. and Maple Ave., and get a bunch of messages from other people involved in accidents in this area recently. One person did get hurt.

With all the road and bridge closures in recent years, traffic is moving differently in town than it did years ago. I don’t know how many times I’ve heard people say to avoid the downtown during peak traffic hours. This is making those once quiet side streets, a whole lot busier. If I had heard about all these accidents around Maple Ave., and its intersecting streets, I may have taken a different route. Because these accidents havn’t prompted the town to post some kind of warning signage, I’ve decided to write my own warning to the public. Please be extra careful if you are driving in this area. My daughter and I were very lucky, but it’s always better to not need that kind of luck in the first place.

-Kelley Denham