Another close call on Ridgefield Avenue

Dear Editor,

This morning was icy. I had already slipped once on our back patio, so taking my eight-pound dog on a walk on our well traveled Ridgefield Avenue was much safer than the icy yard or the foot of snow we still had on most of our property. Impossible for a dog this size to move in a foot of snow.

Over a blind hill was a dark blue Tesla - coming at least 45-50 miles per hour and heading straight for an oil truck, who was giving a decent berth to me and my dog.

The Tesla had to skid on his brakes because on our road, he couldn’t possibly pass except by hitting the truck or us…stay tuned for a little more on that.

The oil truck motions for him to slow down as soon as his hood appeared in view and forced the Tesla driver to wait for the oil truck and the car behind it.

When he moved ahead, he opened his window and said “you have to be crazy to walk your dog on this icy street.” I told him it wasn’t icy anymore as the sun warmed the street, along with the exhausts moving on the westbound side.

He went on to say he skid because of the ice and for some reason I explained “this is where I walk my dogs,” not wishing to confront him on the real reason he was upset. He replied, “Don’t you have property?” and sped away.

Why did he skid like he did? He was speeding and at that speed over a blind hill he nearly hit an oil truck. Of course he was going to skid – even with no ice he was going to skid. Was I going to start accusing him of speeding, not knowing if he was unstable, which he had to be to confront me to begin with? Not worth it.

We have been begging the town of Lewisboro for speed “humps” on our road for nearly five years. We have had a road surveying company show the benefits, speed studies showing the number of cars and their speeds….we have had at least six people grazed by cars and all of us have jumped into any wooded area to avoid being killed.

Our street is an interstate cut-through used mostly by Connecticut drivers, but this nut was a New York driver who either doesn’t have a dog, doesn’t understand the road speed is 25 miles per hour and wouldn't have skid if he was going the speed limit, which the study showed nobody does.

Just another frustration with the drivers who use our road as a cut-through and the nerve of a speeding New York resident to take out his frustration with someone who actually lives on this road.

Gail Lee, Ridgefield Avenue, South Salem