My car was completely destroyed on West Main Road last year at 4 p.m.! Driver of a monster truck, speeding, slammed into my passenger side, and I sustained a bad chest injury from the air bag. The other driver? Expired driver's license, lapsed registration, no insurance. It is a darn freeway out there!

Between the high speeds and all the idiots riding in the passing lane, to avoid "offroading" in the right lanes, who don't pull over to let passing cars by.... its amazing how many people can't drive anymore.... scary

Yet another reason these should not be four lane roads. The lanes are too narrow for todays traffic and it only encourages people to speed. Change them to one lane with the turning lane in the middle like was done on East Main Road.

West Main Road doesn't have a "passing" lane. That might be part of the problem here. It's just a two lane town road. Clearly this is not a highway.

I only use the passing lanes on East and West Main Roads when I can pass the car on my right and not worry about a head on collision. These roads are way too dangerous. You take your life into your hands every time you have to make a left turn. No one slows down for the school zones. It is definitely frustrating when traffic is moving slowly and you have to trek up and down the island. But no one understands things like safety, passing on the left and traveling on the right, and the fact that just because there are 4 lanes doesn't mean it's safe to cruise along indefinitely in the middle lane. It's not a highway. There's not barrier. Those are moving cars coming at you at 50 mph.

I usually only drive on the left side of the road. I don't care how fast I"m going I'm not going to drive thru all of the potholes in the right lane. People just drive way too fast here and everywhere in Rhode Island.

The right lane is not an option, especially when I have my kids. The drain ditches nearly flatten your tire and send you off the road. Add all the out of town drivers speeding into work and you have a recipe for disaster. The police presence is almost non existent, as cars routinely fly past me in the school zones. Most drivers have no respect for the speed limit or other drivers. Until there is enough police presence and actual enforcement, nothing is going to change.

try taking a left on to East Main Road from either Mitchell's Lane or Braman's - it's a suicide left turn into traffic with vehicles travelling at excessively high speed.

My mother was involved in this accident. Thankfully she was not injured. The cause of the accident was a car that police said had crossed the middle line several times before crashing head on into a pickup truck, which then caused several other collisions. I hope they determine this driver was tired and not drunk. My thoughts go out to all the injured and their families.

I had that same question Tamori.

I hope all involved get thru there injuries. Just a question, why would Cathy be fearful of her boyfriend getting pulled over? Just thinking about it.

My thoughts go out to all those injured.

West main road has NASCAR like tendencies at rush hour . Dale JR varoooooommm!!!

If people knew how to drive there would not be a problem but people are in too much of a rush and not paying attention to the road

I live off of west main,rd and I dont have a problem with it people just need to learn,how to drive and get off their phones and pay attention I have seen too many people in the past couple of months running red lights long after lights have changed and speeding through school zones wake up and pay attention

He is my bf. had left my apartment in Middletown 5 minutes before... I know what happened. Please don't assume when you don't know... I'm not handling this accident very well. So just have sympathy for him. He's clinging onto his life.

Being tired is almost the same as being drunk. I heard a while ago the RI and mass were doing a study on it and decided that people would be penalized the same as if they were driving drunk. If your tired that bad don't drive vehicle. I've gotten into so many close calls on this island I'm so scares to drive anywhere. I do the speed limit and people get mad at me and try to run me off the Rhode I'm tired of it. I see bad drivers all the time and also see the police ignore it. Instead they pull me over because my car is too loud but ignore the guy who just ran a red light and I know they saw it. U had to put in a complaint to internal affairs just to get them to leave me alone. Things need to change for everyone's safety.

Speaking of school zones. The school zone on East Main Rd. at the old Pennfield school is absurd. I've never seen a child anywhere in or around the school. If I thought for a minute that this was a dangerous situation for children I would do 20mph, but there is no danger there. It is overkill and the folks who put there hazard lights on to slow other people down are a road hazard that may cause an accident. A 20MPH school zone is meant for a road like Broadway in Newport where you have parked cars and a child may enter the roadway from behind a car.

Such head-on accidents seem to be increasing in frequency. Poor road design is a huge factor. But these incidents, locally and nationally, also reveal a culture of addiction to dangerous driving that continues to function, like the alcoholic, because good, sane, law-abiding people enable this behavior through fear -- though often understandable -- of intervention.

Driving in this area for just a couple of hours yesterday, I encountered multiple displays of ignorant, maniacal, reckless driving behavior -- in which excessive speed was the primary offense and clearly the norm. These widespread law violations are evidence of driver incompetence and/or serious mental dysfunction and moral indifference to the welfare of oneself and others.

Believing that such recklessness, including a claim that one is entitled to pass at high speed someone traveling at the speed limit on a narrow, dangerous four-lane road, is delusional, whether or not one deems it "normal" driving behavior. That a behavior is common practice, i.e., culturally relative, neither explains nor justifies its practitioners’ scorn for human life, as well as for the pleasant quality of life that all of us deserve. I would venture the guess, based on thousands of hours of road experience here, that at least half the local drivers do not merit a license. In most other advanced countries in the world, such scofflaws would have theirs suspended or revoked pronto.

I can say im sick of ancient people driving 25 in a 45. Im also sick of seeing people pass other cars doing the 35 speed limit on east road in front of my house. Someone is going to get killed doing that. Just do the speed limit and stay off your phones. God forbid you go five minutes without a conversation.

Well, a lot of censorship on this one.

A school zone is not just for the children playing. How about the cars and busses that pull in and out? Try to pull out of Melville and let me know what you think... I do not have to pull out of the Christian Academy, but I am sure it is not any easier.

To Robert E: "No person shall drive a motor vehicle at such a slow speed as to impede or block the normal and reasonable movement of traffic." Here's the nub of the problem, phrased in legalistically ambiguous language, to confound one and all. This prescription only makes sense to a 'reasonable person' in context. What is the normal and reasonable movement of traffic in this area? No doubt for most drivers around here, this language allows them to literally and figuratively drive a Mack Truck through it. Since the majority of drivers speed most of the time, how does the law interpret 'normal' and 'reasonable'? In these parts, normal has become the new extreme and reasonable the new irrational. So much for the deterrent effect of the written law!

Cathy - thoughts and prayers to you and the other families dealing with this accident. I did not see mention of speed or any other 'known issue' for what actually caused this accident - I don't think it's fair to jump to any conclusions as so many have. No doubt both West and East Main roads are a gamble most times - I drive them all the time and have seen incidents on both BUT that doesn't seem to be the issue here. What really should be posted are sympathy for these folks - and prayers that they will all survive and heal. Please leave the accusations off of here...

To maggie, thank-you for your comment. I am not related to the driver or anyone else involved in this crash.

No accusations. She said that she was fearful of her boyfriend getting pulled over. I’m just want to know why she was so concerned about that happening. What caused her to make that statement?

Reminds me of the Pit Bull incident in Island Park.....

I'm "Pending Approval" AGAIN. I guess it's time for Regular Folk to move on to a more Tolerant Forum.

I would like to thank the Portsmouth Fire Department for their professionalism. The fireman that assisted me used his personal cell phone to contact my wife. I wish to thank all the fireman that responded to the call. My prayers and well wishes are extended to all parties of the incident. If it was not by the grace of God I also may have died.