I love living in the country. On summer nights, I hear cows, crickets, the occasional squirrel battle, and one other sound that has become very familiar. The best description I can give is this: close your eyes and imagine the sound of a metal garbage can hitting a cement wall. Got that sound? Good.

It's the sound of a car accident, and I hear them so often it's become mundane. See, I live only a few doors away from where the Boyce family lost their lives this past weekend. Following the newspaper and TV accounts, you'd think such accidents were rare -- and indeed, four fatalities are -- but accidents happen on that curve with startling regularity.

It's become so bad that the conversation in our house goes something like this:

"That was another accident, wasn't it?"
"Yep, sounds like it."

Shortly afterward, the sirens sound. Sometimes the helicopter follows. We no longer get up. I hate to be so aloof about it, but after a while, it's hard to worry all the time when you get to realizing there's nothing you can do.

Just pulling out of your driveway can be dangerous, but this area is particularly accident-prone due to three main factors that I see.

The first is speed. Cars, SUVs and semis whirl around that curve at 65mph. It's rated for 55, I guess, but that's a careful negotiation. We hear jake brakes at all hours of the day and night from truckers who underestimate that curve. And I've seen many folks drift slightly out of their lane trying to keep it together. It's not a curve to be flown through. You can help this - please watch your speed there.

The second is complete disregard for signs and rules of the road. I've written to sheriff Maha about the cars that fly south down Fargo road at 65mph (which is a 45 zone). These cars are flying straight toward that curve, and many do not make a full stop at the intersection.

Folks, speed limits and stop signs mean something -- even in the country. We've had stalled farm trucks, deer and even full-grown cows in the middle of the road out here. If you can't be bothered to think of the children who live in this area, surely you can think of the damage you can do to your own car by hitting something that large.

Finally, this curve is made far more dangerous by an overabundance of truck traffic. Trucks have to roll - without them I don't get my favorite goods delivered to my favorite store. This I understand. Heck, there's a trucking company right off of 63 in the Pavilion area -- they have to use it to get to their jobs. But many of the trucks riding this route are coming from Canada and heading down the east coast or vice versa. Instead of riding the thruway to Rt 390, they jump off at Pembroke and take Rt 5 to 63 to the 390. This saves them a few miles and a few tolls.

But what does it get us? Dangerous overcrowding and road wear. Don't tell me these trucks contribute to our economy - when was the last time you saw a row of semis outside Sport of Kings or Miss Batavia? They stop at the truck center in Pembroke for all their needs - something they can do and still jump right back on the thruway. Non-local traffic does not need to be on local roads. Not where there's a perfectly good alternative.

None of these things can bring the Boyce family back -- but maybe they can save the next family.

Please, add your voice to this article. Use the [comment] button to indicate your support or disagreement with the truck issue.

-- Loy