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hihine. A dd. Je adie A. aa Jd di. JE Add an ah ah ales od 6 -- PORT PERRY STAR -- Tuesday, January 24, 1989 Editorial "Comments FOR SAFETY SAKE We can't help but agree with Durham Region chair- man Gary Herrema that something has to be done at the famous Chalk Lake spring on Durham Road 23. For those readers who may not be familiar with this spring, it has become a source of drinking water for countless people. The spring, which comes out of the ground in the hills in Uxbridge Township, flows toward the Regional Road and then under it through a pipe in a culvert. It is on the Scugog Township side of the Regional Road, just a hundred meters north of the Chalk Lake Sideroad, where people stop their cars to fill up with this pure, cold water. And they don't just stop to fill a cup for a drink on the spot. They fill large containers of all kinds, taking back enough drinking water to last their family a week or two. ~ On weekends, there are so many people lined up for water that waits of 30 to 45 minutes are not unusual. And people literally drive miles for the spring water. But there is a major problem. So many cars and trucks parked alongside the highway, with people cross- ing back and forth carrying heavy containers with water, have all created a serious traffic hazard. There have been several accidents, and it's only a matter of time before somebody is killed. What Gary Herrema wants the Region to do this year is extend the pipe south about 100 meters to the Chalk Lake Sideroad and put in a proper parking area for those people who are stopping to get water. It could cost $100,000 to do this, and there could be land expropriation involved for the parking area. Now that's a lot of money to move a pipe 300 feet and put in a parking area, but the work must be done, and soon. A Star writer who spent an hour or two one afternoon last week talking to people at the spring came away shocked. Cars pulling in and out, through traffic whizzing by, children and elderly people trying to cross the busy highway. In a word, it was chaotic. And that was in mid- - week. On weekends, especially in the summer, it is worse, much worse. The people who come to the area for the spring water are not going to stop just because of the safety problems. They want that fresh water and obviously, they are going to get it. The Region has some kind of obligation to cor- rect the situation before there is a major accident that kills one or more people. Let's hope the full Regional council agrees and puts the money for this project in the 1989 budget. After all, a lot of people who stop there for water live in all areas of Durham, and their satety is in jeopardy. There is another alternative: cap the spring complete- ly so that nobody can get water. But surely that is not the solution to this particular problem. Spend the money to extend the pipe and build a parking area before somebody dies for a jug of water. Chatterbox by CATHY OLLIFFE Port Perry (Qs | % CNA STAR ¢ a 235 QUEEN STREET - PORT PERRY, ONTARIO Phone 985-7383 P.0.Box90 LOB 1NO J. PETER HVIDSTEN Publisher Advertising Manager . Member of the Canadian Community Newspaper Association and Ontario Community Newspaper Association. Published every Tuesday by the Port Perry Star Co. Ltd., Port Perry, Ontario. J.B. McCLELLAND Editor Authorized as second class mail by the Post Office Department, Ottawa, and for cash CATHY OLLIFFE payment of postage in cash. News & Features Second Class Mail Registration Number 0265 PRRAO!AN COMM 14 Ve of Subscription Rate: In Canada $20.00 per year. R424 000s ass0liti Elsewhere $60.00 per year. Single Copy 50° © COPYRIGHT -- All layout and composition of advertisements produced by the adver- tising department of the Port Perry Star Company Limited are protected under copyrigtit and may not be reproduced without the written permission of the publisher. A HARD The roads was tricky, not treacherous, last Tuesday afternoon. The kind of road that is common in Ontario on windy days at this time of year--clear for the most part, with thickly snowed over stretches in open areas. | had a tough time keeping a handle on the steering wheel, which was keeling left and right with each fresh assault the wind threw at the Star van. | was headed north to Seagrave on Regional Road 2, the van loaded with newspapers for me to deliver, when some- thing happened that made me forget all about my paper route, the paper itself, and every- thing else going on in my life. | was just beyond the south entrance to Seagrave when | noticed a small car with its four-ways on, parked at the side of the road. | don't recall thinking too much about it, but | did crane my head absentmindedly in its direc- tion, wondering vaguely what engine trouble the owner had lucked into. The owner wasn't inside. The hood wasn't up. | lost interest and turned my eyes back to the road. But in that split second when my head was turning, my eyes locked onto a spot beyond that of the parked car, over a steep embank- ment to a van on its roof, and a tall man in a blue ski jacket. | think he was waving. At any rate, he looked like he needed help. My foot jumped hard on the brake and | pulled over. A lot of things ran through my mind as | got out of the van and ran to the acci- dent scene. There was no ambulance, no po- licé car. Just a man kneeling beside the brok- en vehicle, and a woman running as fast as she could to a nearby house. As | slipped down over the side of the embankment and slogged through the snow, | wondered how anyone could survive such a crash. The front of the van was crumpled from slamming into a © tree, and the van itself was sprawled on its roof. | wondered how | would react if someone was badly hurt, or dead. | wondered what | could possibly do to help. | steeled myself for the worst. It seemed like ages before | reached the man in the blue ski jacket, the owner of the car arked at the side of the road. No, he wasn't nvolved in the accident. Yes, someone had gone to call for an-ambulance. | looked inside the van and saw movement. At least two children and one adult. With a lot of pulling and pushing, we managed to slide open the side door of the van. That's when we were confronted with a sight | don't think I'll ever forget. A baby, still tucked neatly into her car seat, blood smeared all over her tiny face, screaming blue murder. Her LESSON brother, a handsome boy with a shock of yel- low hair, quietly sobbing. Their mother, blood pouring from her face, trying desperately to comfort her three children (I didn't see all of Sema first). She said she was okay, but con- used. . Because my husband is a volunteer fire- fighter, | know enough not to move an acci- dent victim if there is any chance of back or neck injuries. But all three kids were Kicking: and waving their arms, all of them upside down, locked securely in seat belts. We couldn't leave them upside down, in the cold, so we decided to move them to the man's car, where they could at least be warm until the ambulance arrived. Getting the one and a half year old baby out was the hardest part, but after tugging on the car seat, it eventually slid out. The other chil- dren were released from their seat belts, and the four year old boy scrambled madly away from the upturned van. ' | was responsible for carrying the baby, still in her car seat, to the car. It was heartbreak- ing, hearing her frightened cries for "Momma, Momma," and seeing her tiny face contorted in screams. Getting her up over the embankment was a trial in itself, and for one horrifying moment | slipped and almost dropped the heavy car seat. Not wanting anything else to happen to this poor little tyke, | undid her straps, and lift- od ha up into my arms, where she clung for ear life. By this time, more people had gathered at the roadside, so | passed my precious cargo into the outstretched arms of another woman, and breathed a huge sigh of relief. All three children were taken to hospital, and thankfully, all three were okay. A policeman told me they were busy playing with hospital toys while their mom was being examined. She suffered some major facial cuts, but was conscious and able to walk. | hate to think what might have happened had all four not been wearing their seat belts. The accident provided clear-cut evidence of how seat belts can save lives. The children in the back seat, lovingly buckled up by their mother earlier on, es- caped the accident unharmed. They were scared, sure, but they were alive. The debate about seat belts can rage on and on, but that terrible afternoon taught me a serious lesson. I've never been one to do up my seat belt all the time, but | do now. One little baby talked me into it. oy | | 1 ! i UN A Ran