Kirkland Police Chief Eric Olsen is spot on in his recent column in the Kirkland Reporter when he says, “Changing poor driving behavior is a fundamental factor to community safety, and a highly visible traffic enforcement program is a critical element to our community safety priority.  There is no denying that traffic enforcement reduces accidents and enhances safety.”

As a lifelong resident of Washington State, it is disconcerting to me to witness a continuing deterioration of driving behavior and blatant disregard for common-sense rules of the road and consideration for other drivers. One does not have to spend much time behind the wheel to find themselves in a panic situation attempting to avoid the driver who is either colorblind or feels that red lights do not apply to left turns.

While I can cite no documentation to support my belief, I strongly believe that this bad behavior is encouraged by what seems to be a tolerance policy by law enforcement and, if not curtailed, will have tragic consequences. (One also can’t help but wonder what has happened to driver education of young adults that fails to teach such common-sense thinking).

This problem is certainly not unique to Kirkland, as I have seen it all over the U.S. I wholeheartedly agree with everything Chief Olsen says in his article, and strongly support him and his officers. However, I encourage him to “walk the walk” by cracking down on scofflaws that blatantly disregard the safety of other motorists by running red lights and disregarding the part of the “right turn on red/stop” that requires one to actually stop and look before proceeding to take a “free right.”

Nelson Main, Kirkland