Hopatcong’s Novice Drivers Soon Learn to be Performance Drivers

In the Skylands lake communities of Sussex County New Jersey we have some really mean topography that we have laid paved roads to. These roads could easily be Motor Sport Magazine test roads to check out the steering precision features of a luxury high performance car. Fatefully, it is the average home commuter with a modest driving vehicle that has learned to negotiate these hairpin lanes that are just a paved grade up from being an off- the- road adventure. In the communities of Lake Hopatcong that hug cliffs and narrow steep roads that wrap around the shoreline of Lake Hopatcong, the locals have honed safe driving skills to keep their car from spending time in the auto body shop. In places like Hopatcong Borough, when a student receives their first driving permit, they also are unknowingly embarking on lessons in high performance driving. In Hopatcong there are no rambling roads for the novice driver to make minor mishaps. Just one moment of not being mindful of the road could result in a sudden calamity. One of these accidents by a novice driver made headline news that reached the airwaves of Austin, Texas back in the fall of 2017. That was when the unique topography of our roads also brought a unique driving accident. Katie Kausch is the dedicated Patch Staff reporter for the Hopatcong-Sparta area reported this story:

Hopatcong firefighters rescued a teen driver from his car Thursday morning after it got stuck between two trees…Police say a 17-year-old driver was driving and listening to music on Sparta Stanhope Road when he crossed the double yellow lines, went off the road and became airborne. He hit a tree head-on, and his vehicle rotated in the air, wedging it between the two trees when it came down.

Could an accident of this inimitable proportion happen in any other place? The answer is “Probably Not”. The terrain in which this vehicle was driving through contributed to its airborne lift off and the large wooded forest next to the road to capture the tossed vehicle was an exceptional road condition too.

Alert driving is a lead survival skill living in our region even when there are few drivers on these rural roads. All local commuters depend on the car alongside of them or in front to be mindful of the road and able to negotiate the winding curves ahead.

Without citizen committee input, Hopatcong has moved ahead in negotiating a leasing contract for a commercial storefront unit on Hopatchung Road a few doors down from the Rite Aid-Walgreens center. They have plans to make it an in- take center for County promoted community outreach programs. The program they want to adopt for Hopatcong is the C.L.E.A.R. -Community Law Enforcement Addiction Recovery program. Stated in other press releases C.L.E.A.R.’s primary mission statement is. Any individual seeking enrollment may go to a participating police station “without fear of arrest or prosecution” …. If the individual has any outstanding legal concerns or charges unrelated to drugs, the police will work with them and the prosecutor to make suitable arrangements or deferments until their substance use issues have been addressed.

Should the Hopatcong taxpayers be concerned that some of these legal deferments may be keeping addictive distracted minds behind the steering wheel negotiating these local legendary hairpin turns on so many of our roads. Is C.L.E.A.R. the right enrollment program for Hopatcong? Maybe the leased In-take center should be processing enrollments to – AARP’s “Smart Driver™ Course | You May Save on Auto Insurance”. There are plenty of Hopatcong Seniors who would like to sharpen their driving skills to remain independent skilled drivers in Hopatcong.