" What? No one's going to complain about Highway 29 being unsafe and that 47 different kinds of safety measures must be implemented by the County of Napa in order to ensure the safety of all who traverse this stretch of roadway?

No rumble strips? No cement barriers? No lowered speed limits? No full-time City of Napa police officer or CHP officer dedicated to the intersection of Hwy. 29 and Trower to make sure nothing of this kind ever happens again?

There was a minor injury after all!!! Where is you peoples' sense of responsibility for idiot-proofing our all too dangerous world?

Oh. I see. DUI equals road not at fault. Well, then we better ban alcohol, folks !!! Get with the program!

Or is it because it's Hwy. 29 and not the deadly Silverado Trail? It was a straight stretch of road, after all.

Consistency people! Consistency! "

" It's not the roads, it's the drivers. People drive up on the sidewalks, crash into barriors, run through red lights... things happen and the person who caused the accident should be held responsible. Driving is a privilage not a right. We can't change the roads to accomodate everyone. Just try to be more aware of what is going on around us. "

" I totally disagree and say hold that Meredith girl 100% responsible. Teach her a lesson - she's friends with a lot of people in town so hopefully her bad judgment will also prove to be an example to other young Napans. "

" hahahahahaha...i thought about that before when I read this and didn't see any comments. "

" opinionator: Give me a break! This crash happened at an intersection regulated by traffic signals. Perhaps that's why there were only minor injuries instead of DEATHS! Also people are not consistantly doing 65 - 70 miles per hour and/or crossing the center line on that stretch of highway. I also think that rumble strips would be very helpful on Silverado Trail, just like they have been on Jamison Canyon Rd. "

" Well At least She was over 21... But sounds like a similar scenerio as earlier in the month. The Roads, Cars and Bars aren't the ones to blame!!! "

" " DL: I often see people driving 65 to 70mph on that stretch of Hwy. 29. At least my speedometer says 50, 55 or even 60, and folks are blazing past me like I'm not even moving. And why don't you ask the families of the people who HAVE died or the people themselves who have survived with serious injuries on J.C. Rd., and ask them if the rumble strips helped?

Rumble strips help people who may be tired and falling asleep at the wheel, or simply just not paying attention to driving. They shouldn't be driving in the first place. So let's boost their overconfidence and install rumble strips everywhere so the idiots think: "It's okay if I'm a little tired. If I fall asleep, those rumble strips will wake me up before I kill the innocent family heading towards me in the opposite direction on their way to church."

Do you think rumble strips or lower speed limits are going to make a bit of difference when someone has a 1.2 BAC, and are so wasted when they feel the rumble they will probably enjoy it?

Do you think rumble strips and lower speed limits will help prevent the impatient driver who's been held up by a slow tourist or citizen road cop for the past 15 minutes (who refuses to pull over and let the 15 to 20 cars behind them pass in safety) from passing on a double yellow or when otherwise unsafe?

Do you think rumble strips or lower speed limits will prevent the testosterone bound adolescent from maintaining a "cool" image and driving beyond his/her capabilities to impress friends, and end up misjudging a curve in the road?

I don't think so. Hold people accountable for their driving. "

" Give me a break. 29 doesn't have the same problems as the trail at all - it doesn't have near the disproportionate traffic injury/death rate. 29 and Trower does also have a track record of injury, though - it's a bit of a nasty intersection. Seems like 4-way stops were put in up that way not too long ago, and that calmed it down a bit - can't account for alcohol, though. DUI is already illegal and prohibition has already been done and failed.

So driving on the Trail is getting people killed. It's nice to scream about "responsibility" and all, but the fact of the matter is that people are *dying*, despite all the rhetoric that's thrown around on the comment board.

If telling people "just be responsible" fixed everything, we wouldn't need traffic lights, stop signs, police, or laws at all - but here we are. Fact of the matter is, you can't force anyone to be "responsible"(nor should you) - all you can do is educate, then account for human error and and try to correct for it with external measures as best you can. Without the rhetoric.

If it's possible to use traffic control devices, make alternate routes, change enforcement, or similar - I'm all about it. Asking people nicely (or screaming rudely, apparently) clearly isn't doing the job.

My suggestion? Consider closing the ST to all but commercial and bus traffic; then build bus stops, park n' rides, and capsule hotels at the ends.

I'm glad nobody was seriously hurt in this latest crash. "

" trust me, people drive 55, 60, 65, 70 mph through this part of highway 29. Accidents are accidents. Nobody intentionally causes them but they are caused by people, not roads, not cars, not whether or not there are rumble strips or traffic signals, or what the speed limit is. It is a persons choice to talk on a cell phone while driving, or to drive while tired and falling asleep, or to drive while not paying attention, or to drive while drunk, or to speed, or to drive too slow (and creating a hazard), or to try crazy stuff because they think they are invinsible. It is time to stop blaming lack of safety features, or comparing the hazards of different roads, and to start addressing the real problem... People. "

" Opinionator really showed his/her colors on this one. Well stated, and with a nice twist of irony to boot.

And the fact that there were no major injuries does nothing to reduce the thrust of his/her very good argument. If a car blew through that intersection at 55+ and broadsided a car, there would be serious injury or death.

Again: well stated, opinionator. Drivers need to be aware of their limitations and drive within those limitations. So long as the roads comply with the standards established by the Dept. of Transportation et al., don't blame the road for your errors (regardless of whether you were on the cell phone, drunk, distracted, etc.). "

" Nobody is "blaming" a road. However, if there is a practical and effective way that injuries and fatalities can be stopped by altering the physical conditions of Silverado Trail, it may be worth investigating, even if it's just a couple "burma shave"-style signs that get folks to slow down (without being overly distracting).

You can say "it's people that are the problem" all you like - that's not a solution. How do you propose to "fix" people in such a way that reduces the inordinate number of accidents on ST?

"Drivers need to be aware of their limitations" - sure, they do. It would be nice if everyone was perfect like that, but that's not reality. You can say "responsibility" and "awareness" blue in the face, but how are you going to promote that? I have yet to see any suggestions from the "opinionated" folks here. Until I do, they're just blowing smoke.

The idea is that if the number of accidents can be reduced down to what is just human error (which can never be fully removed) we have done a good job of making the roads safer. If there were fewer traffic controls at Trower and 29, I can guarantee that there would be more wrecks there. *That's why traffic controls were put there in the first place.*

I'd like to see fewer accidents on the Trail, and I'd like to see if the route or conditions thereupon can be altered to make it safer for everyone to travel. "

" How come, because she is a white woman, she gets a whole article written about her. I bet you've never seen an article written about any hispanic getting a DUI!!!!!!!!!!!! That is not Okay NVR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! "

" hey notalwaysright,
This paper isn't big enough. "

" Why is alcohol legalized? "