We have all heard the expression "if you see something say something" or have seen it on signage across the state. This is especially the case as it relates to travel on airlines, trains, and other types of mass transit. This is to help protect the health, safety, and welfare of all of those using these services. I would suggest that we should extend that practice to anything that we observe that can be a health or safety risk.

By way of example, the state of Connecticut created what appears to be a large parking area just south of the Danbury airport on Route 7 (which is on the right-hand side of the road as you are heading to Danbury from Ridgefield). During the Corona pandemic, some people had parked their vehicles in that area to either hike or to engage in social distancing in and around their motor vehicles.

Evidently, the state of Connecticut decided that they wanted to close down this area and had several transportation employees erect the barrier which is set forth in the picture. They placed massive logs at the top of the entry ramp to this parking area and placed dirt around the lower side of the logs. It is reasonable to assume that if we experience a great deal of rain then much of the material placed around the bottom of the massive logs would wash away and could cause them to roll directly onto Route 7. It is also reasonable to expect that people might try to get around these logs to access this parking area and could move these massive logs which could cause them to roll onto Route 7.

No matter which way you look at it, the situation is incredibly dangerous and creates a situation where somebody could be very seriously injured or could die as a result of these massive logs rolling out onto this very well-traveled roadway. The state of Connecticut knew or should have known that this would create a very dangerous situation. As a result of this very dangerous and ill-thought-out barricade, I have notified the state Department of Transportation of the fact that this should be rectified immediately. This could very well help to save a life or prevent a very avoidable accident.

What other hazardous or very dangerous situations do you see on a daily basis?  Have you noticed a dead or rotting tree that overhangs a roadway? Have you seen stone walls that are right next to the roadway that are crumbling or about to roll into the road? Are there blind spots caused by overgrown vegetation that create dangerous driving situations? If you see something very dangerous that just happened on the roadway or creates a very hazardous situation then I would encourage you to call the local police department and report this so someone can correct the situation.

Do you see hazards or other dangers around town? If so, please consider contacting the highway department or the administrative offices of the town to report the problem. Far too often we hear or read about someone getting very seriously injured or dying as the result of a hazard. How many of these hazards could have been corrected or avoided if the public became more vocal in reporting these to the proper authorities?

Please be mindful of these hazards and report them at your earliest possible convenience. Who knows, you might save a life or prevent a very serious accident!