LI highway safety and home heating oil prices

Drivers, not roads, cause the crashes

First, I send my sympathy to all the families who have lost cherished loved ones to road accidents [“LI highways painful reminders of road dangers,” News, Aug.  28]. However, I am repulsed that the blame is put on the roads.

Roads are inanimate objects. Roads don’t move. They are incapable of causing accidents. Put the blame where it belongs — on disrespectful and irresponsible drivers. The saddest part is that they usually walk away while the innocent do not.

We all need to drive defensively and be constantly alert, but stop blaming the roads and put the blame where it belongs.

 — Rosemary Roach, Seaford

Once again, Newsday highlights the fatal accidents on our unsafe, treacherous unpatrolled highways.

Where are the police who are supposed to patrol our roads and curb the abuse of unchecked reckless drivers?

I see these memory markers and always say a prayer for the deceased, hoping they were loved and had a happy life. A marker on the Sunken Meadow Parkway for Anthony nearly makes me cry. I have seen a woman, likely his mother, putting flowers on the spot where he died.

I rarely see patrols on highways or secondary roads. I see police cars parked in fire stations. Why aren’t they on the roads?

Something must be done.

 — Judith Hanson, Fort Salonga

Price of LI home heating oil is scary

With fall and winter coming up fast, along with the need for heat, it’s just a matter of time before Long Island homeowners get hit with sky-high fuel oil bills [“Fuel pricing a ‘major’ concern,” News, Aug. 30].

I am on a yearly budget plan with a cap on how much I pay per gallon. With my last statement, my oil company informed me that I will be paying a maximum of $5 a gallon.

If my cap is $5, I wonder how much other homeowners who aren’t on budget plans will be paying for their heating oil.

— Thomas W. Smith, Riverhead