Speed Kills
Editor:

I thank Don Knapp for his comments regarding obeying the laws of our streets and highways.

My father, an advocate on driving and safety, gently and consistently reminded his children all of our lives "Slow down. It's not a race."

Twice while growing up I remember a favorite family cat killed violently on our quiet residential street by a careless and speeding car. Many years later I can still hear my gentle man of a father yelling "Slow Down!" to drivers speeding in his presence.

Forty years ago my Dad solely built our first boat. As an Engineer, when asked the time he explained (and sketched) how to build the watch. This in itself a lesson of patience! Dad's favorite room of the house was his garage where there was a constant flowof vehicles and rebuilding projects. For many years this enthusiastically involved motorcycles. He rode dirt bikes, finishing the Barstow to Vegas race in the over-forty-class three consecutive years. Then followed an assortment of Jeeps, a 1987 Porsche and his prize possession, a 1969 Ford Mustang, restored to near perfection.

My father knew his cars and loved to drive. Following his passion, after retirement he drove test cars professionally for Honda, providing his "pocket money" for that Mustang. At seventy-two-yearsold this kept him busy and fulfilled.

On October 16, 2007, a careless driver, exceeding the speed limit over fourteen miles per hour (in a zero visibility sandstorm), violently rear-ended the car my Dad was driving. The impact ruthlessly slammed the vehicle into the back of a semitruck, killing Dad and his passenger.

Seven months later my family aches with this loss.

His deeply familiar voice resonates within me, "Slow down. It's not a race."

And I know, too intimately, Speed Kills...
Laurel Holly Oberg
Laguna Beach