South Windsor Resident Implores Council to Enforce Laws to Curb Distracted Driving

A South Windsor resident made an impassioned plea to the Town Council on Monday to enforce existing traffic laws to curb distracted driving.

Carl Werkhoven, who said he has ridden more than 300,000 miles on a motorcycle, became emotional during parts of his 15-minute public comment, imploring councilors to find a way to get people to cut down on using their cellphones while driving.

“You may as well take all the stop signs and speed limit signs down, because they are now meaningless when driving,” Werkhoven said.

Werkhoven said that he estimates that more than 30 percent of drivers are talking or texting on their cell phones.

Motorcyclists “have targets on their backs,” he said.

One day, Werkhoven monitored the traffic at the stop sign in front of the police station on the corner of Nevers Road and Sand Hill Road.

Werkhoven said that he observed 12 people on their phones and another 10 who did not stop at the stop sign. Werkhoven also estimated that 70 percent of the drivers were traveling over the speed limit. One car, Werkhoven said, passed another on the one-lane road.

“This was in front of the police department,” Werkhoven said “People have no respect for the law or other people on the road.”

Werkhoven noted that the town agreed recently to construct new playing fields, which he said was an important issue.

But, he said, “if you don’t make it to the ball fields, then it doesn’t make sense to build it.”

“I don’t care how much money you have, you shouldn’t be one a phone [while driving],” Werkhoven said.

It’s a personal issue for Werkhoven, who lost a leg in a motorcycle accident several years ago.

Several councilors agreed with Werkhoven and said that the town, the police department and the school district should collaborate to make the roads safer by raising awareness of the issue.

Councilor Jan Snyder related how she saw one man on I-84 typing on a laptop while he was driving.

“It’s like an epidemic,” Councilor Jan Snyder said of distracted driving. “I’ve been thinking about this for a long time.”

Mayor Tom Delnicki agreed, noting that texting while driving renders the operator of a motor vehicle with the capacity of someone who has had two shots of hard alcohol.