Many nights I have been driving along Poplar Street or Mill Street or any street, for that matter and have seen people in wheelchairs riding in the middle of the road. Many other people I have spoken to also have come across the same situation and are very concerned for the safety of the people in wheelchairs and also for themselves as drivers.

Now, don’t get me wrong. I’m not writing this letter to try to ban people from riding in their wheelchairs on the side of the road, but merely expressing my concern for them. My concern stems from a night around 9 p.m. when I was driving down Poplar Street toward Mill Street when all of a sudden a person in a wheelchair came into my lane coming toward me. This person had no lights or reflectors on their chair, and I nearly hit them. I don’t want something like that to happen before anyone does a thing about it.

If people on bikes have to have lights or reflectors at night, why shouldn’t persons in wheelchairs be required to have them? Just like bike riders at night, people in wheelchairs put themselves and others in danger because people driving cars have a hard time seeing them until, perhaps, it is too late.

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Please, let’s not wait until something terrible happens before we, the citizens of Carbondale, decide to take action.