You’d think living on a gravel road would mean slow, respectful traffic. After all, gravel can be slippery as ice. One car flipped belly up after it hit a ridge of gravel.
In addition, stones can chip the car’s paint … the uneven road can throw wheels out of alignment.
Nope, that’s not how it is. While most of our traffic is local, some cars clock out at 50 mph.
It doesn’t matter that horses and cows occasionally break their fences, or that our chickens root in the gravel, or that our neighbor runs his wheel chair up the road. Nope.
These folks push the accelerator hard to shave a minute off their arrival at home.
I cringe watching cars crest the hill just south of our place, the dust blowing like fog over our fields and forming a film on every surface of our house.
I shake it out of our hay. Dust blows in my face if I’m out walking the dogs.
Not everyone speeds. Just the other day, I was lost in my thoughts and didn’t hear the car behind me. Our neighbor slowed way down, waiting until I saw her and got off the road before she drove by.
Other neighbors stop, wheel down their window. We chat.
So if you find yourself driving on gravel roads, remember: Slow down. You’ll save your car; you might save your life.
I’m Katie Andraski, and this is my perspective.
