Within the past couple of months there have been fatal car accidents and other issues with traffic here in El Paso.

One of the fatal incidents occurred back in December. This specific incident was a multi-vehicle type. A semi truck driving down I-10 East on the inside lane hit a parked construction vehicle that was in the median, its trailer was ripped through the middle causing the people inside to get injured by the crane arm. The truck rolled down the road and hit a jeep and that caused the jeep to hit the trailer of another semi truck.

The two people inside the semi truck received severe injuries and died at the scene. The person in the jeep rolled out of his car and police never identified him. This accident and these deaths could have been prevented had the proper procedures been taken before the workers left the construction site.

However sometimes it isn’t the conditions of the road but rather the driver, specifically a distracted driver. It seems as though every time I drive, I see an accident. I do not know the cause of every accident but if I had to guess, I would say that it had something to do with their phone. It is natural for everyone to look at his or her phone. We get texts, updates, or are on a music application, but while we do that, we take our eyes off the road. It is in those moments that we do not see what’s happening that disaster strikes.

It is understandable that we may have emergencies and may need to text or call a family member or friend but to constantly be on your phone while driving is not a good habit. If you really feel the need to check your phone then try pulling into a neighborhood or the emergency lane and do what you have to do.

Another problem we face with our traffic is all the road closures and the fact that most of us are unaware of them. If we do not know where the road is closed we make the congestion worse and add to the probability of an accident taking place. It is the city’s job to keep us informed of these closures and to an extent they do, but improvements with relaying the information could be made. Using Twitter efficiently can help prevent congestion. If they fix that then driving can be more effective in El Paso.

Having said all of this hopefully 2018 has better stories with the road than it does accidents.