The eJustice Network

All of us want a world which is a safe place to raise our families. Yet, we know that the world is filled with war, famine and genocide. In the United States, however, tragedy all too often occurs with our motor vehicles.

As a litigator for many years, I have represented families who have lost children due to the negligence of another driver. I have lived with their pain for a long time and now it's time for me to release my pain.

My family and I live on a surburban street in the suburbs of Ft. Lauderdale. When our sons were young, they would naturally play with friends on our street. We are lucky enough to have an island or a green space in the middle of our street where the kids of the neighborhood would play and still do. Sometimes, however, the kids play in the street because the green space is also a place where the the dogs of the entire subdvision do their duty nothwithstanding a city ordinance to the contrary.

We also have a church at the north end of our street. The church's members have sped down our street for years. Several years ago, I called our local police department to complain. They listened and put up a speed machine to register the speed of traffic for several weeks and later put up a sign which read "Slow down, children playing". This sign no longer exists as it was blown away by Hurricane Wilma. We have no sidewalks, so everyone including adults, kids, animals, cars, trucks etc. use the street to walk, play, bike or drive.

Yesterday, while sitting on my front porch after work, I heard a car barreling down the street. I hear one of my neighbors screaming to "slow down, slow down", all to no avail. Thank God there were no children on the street except for neighbor, John, who was yelling at the driver and his greyhound dog, Sadie.

The "what ifs" kept going through my head, "what if that were me, or my husband, or one of my sons or my dog. I finally told myself that I could no longer sit by and watch my neighbor's children or one of my family members get hurt or killed by a speeding driver. I immediately sent an email to the city manager of my city and went to the church's office with a copy of the email asking their leader to talk about the problem to their memmbers.

I have spoken to my retired neighbor, John, who yelled at the speeding driver and who personally monitors the traffic and the speeding cars from the church on a daily basis. My neighbor will join me when we go to city hall. We will not stop talking until (1)we have a sign posting a maiximum speed of 25 mph and (2) speed bumps which remind the speedy drivers to slow down.

I realize that I can't undo the past deaths of my clients' children, but I can and must do whatever it takes to prevent another tragedy from happening in the future.