By Nikki Silverstein
Four separate, serious accidents occurred on Marin roadways during an eight-day period last month, which resulted in the deaths of two people and caused injuries ranging from minor to life-threatening to seven others. Terrible run, indeed. But, the driving force behind our abject horror is that all four incidents were completely preventable. The Marin County Highway Patrol reports that two of the drivers were allegedly under the influence and the two solo bridge crashes were caused by high rates of speed. Here’s what could have been prevented: 1) On August 19, a woman suspected of DUI drove the wrong way on 101 in Novato, killed a woman in the inevitable head-on collision and injured a man in yet a third car. 2) Two days later, a man allegedly under the influence also decided to take a spin in the wrong direction on 101, this time in San Rafael, and hit a car with three occupants. 3) The next day, a speeding vehicle hit the toll plaza at the Richmond San Rafael Bridge and the driver suffered major injuries. 4) Finally, the terrible streak ended four days later, on August 26, when a motorcyclist driving well over the speed limit smashed into a guardrail on the Golden Gate Bridge and died. Our hope is that Marin law enforcement beefs-up the number of random sobriety checkpoints and that drinking folks use their Uber app. The rest of us need to ease up on that gas pedal and contemplate the joy of life.
