To the Editor,

Folks, I don’t intend this in any way to be a letter about legislating cell-phone use while driving. I wlll leave that to those smarter than I am.

But, the recent traffic light mess — when the power went out over much of Lumberton — showed the inability of many to talk on the phone and drive and recognize what is happening around them. I was taught when the traffic lights are out to treat the intersection as a 4-way stop and try to be courteous. At a number of intersections that are normally governed by lights, people were trying to help others proceed from side streets on to Fayetteville Road, but others just buzzed right through intersections with a phone to their ear, totally oblivious to others stopping right next to them — or even in front of them.

People, if you gab and drive, think about the others you endanger when you can’t even recognize an issue such as a traffic light with no colors showing.

John Lahey

Lumberton