2 Friday, March 3, 2017brooklintowncrier.com Traffic Services to Tackle Aggressive Driving on Taunton Road Traffic Services Branch will be focusing its attention on Taunton Road for aggressive drivers. For the month of March 2017, numerous officers from Traffic Services and Divisional officers will be addressing traffic concerns on Taunton Road across Durham Region. They will primarily focus on enforcing any aggressive drivers on our roadways and also any Highway Traffic Act infractions in efforts to make the roads safer for commuters. Since January 2015, there have been 1,805 collisions; 341 personal injury collisions and five fatal collisions region-wide on Taunton Road. Due to the numbers provided and community concerns, this initiative commenced on Wednesday, March 1. Less than Half the Picture By Richard Bercuson If you see something... Local vigilance is everyone's business. For instance, our Ottawa home was in a dead end street with one side of it being hectares of National Capital Commission (NCC) fields, shrubs, and rough pathways. At the actual dead end was the entrance to a formal path used by walkers, runners, and cyclists. Oh, and teens bent on a crazy night in the bush, which the community knew about. Once spring arrived, gaggles of them, laden with backpacks, brazenly traipsed past our house to the path to begin the adventure. Sometimes a few would push through the hedgerow across from us, looking for alternative routes to the parties. One night, a couple of kids were so hammered (the evidence was obvious), they fell into a ditch and clambered up to the street on hands and knees. I'd just got home from the rink - naturally - and watched a few feet away from my driveway. I doubt they noticed me, their eyes were so glazed over. The whole time, every time, someone was watching. It could have been Bill #1 or Susan a few doors down or Ed, their neighbour, or Joan and Gerry on one side of us or Roger on the other. Another Bill, #2, lived in a magnificent place overlooking the pathway entrance and he seemed to know everything that was going on. He admitted to me it was he who often called either the police or NCC officials. On a couple of occasions, kids in sports cars used the street as a minidrag strip, streaking by with tires spinning. If it happened when Bill #1 or I happened to be out front, he'd storm onto the street armed with a tire iron, making a clear point about a second attempt. Yours truly chose the safer approach: I'd take photos of the cars and wave when they went by. One time, a kid stopped a few houses away, stepped out of the car and yelled something that didn't sound like good wishes. I pretended to take a video of him. He drove off and never came back. We had no break-ins or vandalism on our street. I once left my car unlocked at night and someone swiped $3 in change from the cup holder and nothing else. Mea culpa. There was never an attempted incident with kids. No thefts of lawn chairs, shovels, or sports equipment. It's not a secret why: everyone kept a lookout. Without ever saying so, we had each other's back. Consider the U.S. Homeland Security saying, "If you see something, say something." In light of a few recent Brooklin incidents, it's particularly apropos. This is a wonderful and safe community, but it's not immune from petty thugs or weirdos. Let's get out and about. Be a known presence. You might very well see more, and thus less. "Proud to be a Brooklinite" Founded in 2000 Published 24 times annually Editor, Richard Bercuson 613-769-8629 editorofbtc@gmail.com Locally owned and operated. A publication of Appletree Graphic Design Inc. We accept advertising in good faith but do not endorse advertisers nor advertisements. All editorial submissions are subject to editing. For advertising information, contact: