How can we make our roads safer? Education.

the tragedies are unbearable. A 6-year-old girl in West Hempstead was killed when an alleged drunken driver “traveling at a high rate of speed” last week crashed into a parked car on Hempstead Turnpike, according to nassau County police.

Two days later, the same police department reported a 73-year-old woman crossing Woodfield Road in West Hempstead was struck by a vehicle and seriously injured. She remains in critical condition as of this writing.

Then there was the devastating crash in Massapequa allegedly caused by an intoxicated driver that claimed the lives of a 60-year-old U.S. Marine veteran, his 6-year-old granddaughter from Uniondale, and his 13-year-old daughter and 10-yearold son.

long Island is one of the most populous regions in the nation. Driving in nassau County will always be dangerous.

Tons of steel and plastic traveling at high rates of speed, combined with an everincreasing number of drivers, all of which requires society’s constant and consistent attention. Crashes and driving fatalities and serious injuries will never be eliminated.

But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try.

Traditional road safety measures include signs, traffic lights and marked crosswalks. Red light cameras have been effective at reducing serious accidents.

novel ideas include installing roundabouts to reduce the severity of T-bone — or 90-degree — collisions. These are typically the most dangerous types of crashes.

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Kremer is off base on presidential relatives

To the Editor: lighted crosswalks and signs alerting motorists to upcoming intersections make roads safer for drivers and pedestrians. While getting a ticket in the mail for running a red light may be annoying, red light cameras make the roads safer. The intent isn’t to generate revenue, but to warn motorists they will be ticketed if they race to beat a red light. The goal is safety, not money. not everyone is enamored with these safety measures, however. The complaints officials hear from angry constituents is that another stop sign or traffic light will mean it takes longer to get to work or drop the kids off at soccer practice. Some complain about “sign pollution,” as if too many street signs block out the sun.

Roundabouts are significantly less expensive to install and maintain than traffic lights.

While traffic engineers, safety advocates, and drivers in a hurry debate the best and most efficient methods to make roads safer, an additional route must be considered — vastly improving new York State’s Driver Education Program.

The current program requires new drivers to have at least 24 hours of in-class instruction and another 24 hours behind the wheel — with six of those hours driving with an instructor present.

Think of that — six hours practicing driving to become a licensed driver.

And once a person receives their license, the only real requirement for renewal is an eye exam.

Six hours of behind-the-wheel training — combined with however much practice a person gets with a learner’s permit — is not enough to properly learn how to drive safely. The program needs to be improved. State officials must immediately work with safety advocates and experts in rewriting the driver education curriculum and standards.

There are several technological advances that can be used in driver education programs — including virtual reality — that are already available commercially. new York should require VR driving experiences.

The state should also improve the rigor of coursework and exams required to receive a full license.

And perhaps most controversial — new York should require a road test to successfully renew a driver’s license.

We are wholeheartedly opposed to municipalities balancing budgets with back-door taxes like raised fees. However, in this instance, public safety outweighs the financial hardship. Drivers must be held to a higher standard than a once-in-alifetime six-hour driving requirement.

Driving under the influence, driving and texting, distracted driving — there are countless ways drivers unnecessarily make roads more dangerous. It is foolish to think that fines and jail sentences alone with eliminate dangerous driver behavior. new York must do a better job of teaching people how to drive safely as another way to improve safety for everyone.

People need to drive. They also need to be safe. It’s time driver education in new York is made more rigorous and meaningful to make our roads safer.

In his column last week, “Two very hot political subjects,” Jerry Kremer failed to acknowledge that unlike Billy Carter and Jared Kushner, Hunter Biden broke the law and was about to be given a free pass by U.S. Attorney David Weiss. Weiss, who ignored whistle blowers and who cut Hunter’s “sweetheart” deal, which has fallen apart, is now special counsel in the case, which will probably change nothing, but prolong it.

Mr. Kremer shouldn’t accuse those of us who seek truth and justice, and hate corruption in government, of being “way too focused” and talking “night and day” about the Hunter Biden case. That’s insulting. Furthermore, juxtaposing climate change in the Biden conversation, as if to imply that we think climate change is irrelevant, is absurd. As concerned citizens, we worry about both issues, and seek truth and pray for solutions to each.

MEl YoUng Lawrence