It’s time to take a hard look at the driving habits of Connecticut residents of all ages. On a daily basis, I observe in my small driving area people on cell phones, tailgating, drivers not yielding right of way, non-adherence to traffic signals and stop signs (California stops), illegal passing on the right, non-use of car direction indicators − I could go on.

No wonder Connecticut ranks in the top 20 U.S. states in numbers of accidents yearly and why our insurance premiums are so high! Gosh, even Massachusetts is better (no offense New England neighbor).

One approach, about which I wrote to former Gov. Dannel Malloy (without his reply), is a driver’s license retest every 5-10 years. It needs to include a written and a practical so that drivers are refreshed on all the rules. There could be a significant insurance discount associated with completing and passing the retest. The fee could be a small source of revenue to be funneled back into road maintenance or offsetting gas taxes that we sorely don’t need.

Our legislators are looking for solutions for the problems we face, here’s one that we can and should do.

Public safety needs to be a mandate. Let's earnestly get on with it.

Gene Griffin

Waterford