LETTERS: HIGHWAY SAFETY IS IS ISSUE AT PATTONG JCT.

To the editor:

Safety: What elegance, what grandeur the word implies. What noblesse behavior is guaranteed in the word. What depth of government perversity is conducted carrying out its program of safety for the public. In order to make us safe and to save lives, air bags are mandated for vehicles. They kill us. Government permission must be obtained to disconnect air bags and so save lives. Does the government have a hunter's license to kill you and me?

Crime does not pay. Or does it? If speeding and failure to wear seat belts are to be considered a crime, then crime pays -- pays the government, that is. Yes, fines paid for these horrendous deeds enrich government coffers. Meanwhile, drunk drivers continue to kill and maim 10 times as many people as the Vietnam War. Is the general safety of the population pursued by removing alcohol-impaired drivers from the highways?

Are vehicles required to display emergency triangles when stopped longer than 10 minutes? Only large trucks, but not small vehicles, which are much harder to see when stopped. Does anyone care about this? Seemingly, only this person cares about being able to see stalled small vehicles. Recently, wreck debris was over the northbound lane of Highway 51 at Patton. There was no warning to drivers going north until they stopped a rise and saw it with no time to stop, especially if there was southbound traffic.

The few years lived in Patton has seen many wrecks at the junction of Highway 72 and Highway 51. If you are going north or south or turning east, it is absolutely required that your eyes are looking west for traffic which appears in literally fractions of a second. That intersection is entered at peril of your life because of the sudden appearance of eastbound traffic on Highway 72. People have been injured, but none killed. It seems since no one has been killed that the Missouri Department of Transportation will do naught to increase visibility at the intersection. Oh, Safety. How grand is your name. How slovenly is your performance.

If the governing powers are not going to really try to ensure the safety of the population, then the least that could be done would be for the governing powers to try to ensure the safety of their souls by requiring that all become Christians. This would require people to love God and hate sin. The Constitution forbids the establishment of a religion. Even God would be indicted for his hatred of the sins of Soddom and Gomorrah. Safety. How thou art fallen from the lofty heights to the depths of depravity.

WARREN JORDAN

Patton