Commentary: Commander’s Corner — The solution is simple, slow down! Published Dec. 5, 2008 By Col. Mike Duvall 377th Air Base Wing commander KIRTLAND AIR FORCE BASE, New Mexico -- Would you believe me if I told you that Kirtland AFB is averaging two to three vehicle accidents a day? What if I told you that during the opening weeks of school we stopped 10-20 speeders a day in the school zones during children crossing times. Can you believe that our volunteer school crossing guards are sometimes "hit" or brushed by vehicles while escorting children across the streets? As I watch soccer practices at Hardin Field, I witness numerous civilian employees cut around the park at excessive speeds. I must admit, I would have thought the employees and residents of Kirtland were more courteous than these facts indicate - but, unfortunately, they are all true. Speeding on base, careless accidents and pedestrian/bicycle/motor vehicle near-misses are increasing at an alarming trend. In fact, our current situation is unsafe and unacceptable. All of the situations listed above can be solved by one easy step - slow down. Simply slow down your speed when driving on base roads, slow down when backing out of a parking lot and slow down around the parks and schools. During our emphasis on back to school driving safety, the school staff, teachers and parents all lauded our actions. Ironically, many others complained about our enforcement of proper speed limits. I'm a bit disappointed that some consider driving routines and busy schedules more important than driving safety, especially in school zones. Fortunately, most of our traffic accidents and incidents on base this past month have not resulted in serious bodily injury to anyone (although many cars have been damaged or totaled). I do predict, that unabated, this trend will worsen and that someone will be seriously hurt on or around our roadways or parking lots. The solution is not difficult - slow down.