It is with abject horror that we have all witnessed the reckless driving in the Catskills spiral from bad to worse, and now, to outright terrifying. What was once a summer haven has become a death trap, and we must refuse to stand by any longer while people’s lives are recklessly endangered. I have been coming to the Catskills for my summer vacations since I was a child. Back then, there were always a few dangerous drivers on these winding roads, but nothing like the carnage we see now. Every summer for the past few years, there has been a tragedy. This summer, only one incident so far—a horrifying crash that claimed the lives of two young men on Thursday night. I am not here to accuse anyone of speeding or reckless driving in that specific case because I do not know the details. But this isn’t about that particular tragedy alone—it’s about the toxic culture of recklessness on these roads that is putting lives at risk daily. The summer driving in the Catskills has become a perennial disaster waiting to happen. Long, winding roads mixed with the so-called “freedom” of vacation have given birth to a culture of lawlessness. The wake-up calls have been many, but guess what? No one is waking up. Year after year, we see the same reckless behavior and the same preventable tragedies. Enough is enough. It’s clear that without intervention, nothing will change. We have reached a point where complacency is complicity. Every camp administrator, every community leader, every person who turns a blind eye to this recklessness is failing in their duty to protect lives. If you know someone who is guilty of this dangerous behavior and you are staying silent, then their blood is on your hands too. And we cannot let that slide. Firstly, Catskills Hatzolah has to step up. I understand that this summer is almost over, but the time to begin working on a plan must begin now. The least it could do is hire a production company and create a video showing the horrors, wrecks, awful injuries and the number of accidents that occur on Catskills roads every year. Take that video and make it mandatory viewing at every camp and every bungalow colony. Try to give people the tiniest semblance of an idea of what their actions on the road lead to. Secondly, but equally importantly, law enforcement and askanim with law enforcement connections have to step up. This has been going on for years now. There has to be a crackdown on dangerous drivers like there has never been before. Rather than trying to get people off the hook for speeding and reckless driving tickets, askanim should be working to get such people in hot water. They are dangers to the public, and if you are truly an “askan,” you should be an askan for “tzorchei tzibbur,” not “tzorchei yochid.” Sadly, I don’t think that Hatzolah and askanim will actually do anything about this scourge. Had they wanted to, it would have gotten done already. But I hope I’m wrong. If I am not, I’m prepared to take matters into my own hands. For the past three months, I have been collecting evidence—footage shared on social media, showing the very worst of this behavior. Videos of speeding […]