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OPINION The new year is not even a month old and an alarming trend has started to develop on Halton Region roadways. More people are dying. So far in 2008 four people have died in three traffic accidents on Halton roads thats an increase of 400 per cent over last year at this time. Last year there were 24 deaths in 20 crashes, an increase of 100 per cent from 2006 to 2007. It is that upward trend that has Halton Police officials concerned to the point that they have issued a plea to the driving public to be more accountable for the driving behaviour. "Motor vehicle collisions are the greatest pub- lic safety risk in Halton today," Halton Police Chief Gary Crowell said. "People are more likely to be injured or killed on our roads than by any other criminal offence. "These tragedies are almost entirely pre- ventable if everyone would slow down, buckle up and minimize distractions while driving. Every driver is responsible and accountable for road safety." While alcohol often plays a role in many acci- dents, police say in 2007 the number one con- tributing factor in local accidents was speed. This region has a wonderful mix of roadways from provincial highways to secondary roads to winding, two-lane country roads. However, it is obvious that far too many local drivers are ignor- ing posted speed limits and putting not only themselves but other drivers at risk. While issuing public reminders is all well and good, we suggest a vastly increased police pres- ence on local roads, more radar traps and perhaps posting more signs indicating what fines drivers will face for having a lead foot are measures that can be taken to combatting bad drivers. That is, until a law is brought in legislating common sense. Road woes The Independent & Free Press is published every Wednesday and Friday at 280 Guelph St., Unit 29, Georgetown Ont., L7G 4B1. It is one of several newspapers published by Metroland Media Group Ltd. 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Steve Nease THE INDEPENDENT & FREE PRESS LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Letters to the editor must include an address and daytime telephone number. Unsigned letters will not be published. Letters should not exceed 200 words and may be edited for content and/or length. Mail or drop off: Independent & Free Press, 280 Guelph St., Unit 29, Georgetown, ON., L7G 4B1 E-mail: jmcghie@independentfreepress.com Something bugging you? 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Phone: 905-873-0301 Fax: 905-873-0398www.independentfreepress.com Dear editor, Re: Halton Catholic District School Boards banning of book. The HCDSB has every right to remove The Golden Compass from its libraries. The book is the first in a trilogy designed to indoctrinate chil- dren into atheism. The author, Philip Pullman told Australias Sydney Morning Herald, My books are about killing God. Pullman also told Hannah Rosin of The Atlantic Monthly, that C.S. Lewiss famous work, The Chronicles of Narnia, is morally loathsome and one of the most ugly and poiso- nous things I ever read. Narnia, he said, is the Christian one . . . . And mine is the non-Christian. Recently, in The Independent & Free Press letter writer Star Santiago mentioned that there are so many great books to be read, songs to hear and movies to see... yes, there cer- tainly are, and every day we make choices about what we will read, lis- ten to, and see. Sometimes we choose not to watch a movie because of the violent content. Often television news broadcasts censor out certain content because that television stu- dio chooses to portray one view of the story. Sometimes newspaper edi- tors decide to cut out certain parts of a letter written to the paper for pub- lication because they feel it will offend the papers readers. Censorship is happening every day and the world is still going around. Dear Star, you are so right to remind us that we are created in Gods image and that He loves us. God loves atheists, even when they reject and denigrate the truth of humanitys salvation through Jesus as Pullman has done. But that doesnt mean that Christians have to passive- ly accept it. Just as the media and other orga- nizations make censorial decisions, the HCDSB also has the right to decide not to place a book in its libraries. Jesus warned against putting stumbling blocks in front of children and the HCDSB has the right to remove the entire trilogy from their libraries. M. E. Beardall, Acton, Catholic school board right to ban book Dear editor, I want to thank The Independent & Free Press and especially reporter Lisa Tallyn on her front page article focusing on the homeless youth situ- ation that has been on the increase in Halton Hills. This article presented readers with an issue that many in the community did not even know existed. In saying this, I would like to thank everyone who supported these youth through generous donations. It was incredible how many members of our commu- nity provided youth with gift cards and food donations. I would like to especially recog- nize Unilock for their donation of $1,000 in gift cards and the TD Canada Trust Mountainview branch for their donation of $250 in gift cards. On behalf of the youth in Halton Hills, Links2Care and the Youth Team thank you for your support and generosity during the holiday season. Because of this the Halton Hills community ensured that many youth had a happy holiday season. Amanda Kostjuk, Youth Worker Links2Care Support for homeless youth greatly appreciated Dear editor, The Kiwanis Club is thrilled to announce that our annual Harvestfest raised $17,000 for our community. We support various community caus- es and have made a donation of $8,500 to Hope Place Centres. We had a record number of peo- ple attend our wine tasting, dinner and silent auction this year. The fact that people come back year after year tells us that you enjoy this fun evening. Wed especially like to thank all those who donated items to our silent auction. We hope to see you all at our Lobsterfest in June. Lois Fraser, president, Kiwanis Club of Georgetown Annual Harvestfest raised $17,000 for Kiwanis Club causes 6 Independent & Free Press, Wednesday, January 30, 2008