This is midsummer, school is still out and there are a lot of youngsters out and about all day long. Little children playing outside, older ones skateboarding and riding bikes, a whole host of children soon coming home from weeks at sleep-away camp and young people of all ages walking to and from town --- they are very visible during summer days and summer evenings. And while Great Neck is often praised as a very nurturing, very safe, community, there are definitely dangers out there on the roads.

Unfortunately, we are always hearing about dangerous driving ... and seeing it with our own eyes, right on our own local roads. There are way too many examples, right here in Great Neck, of dangerous, reckless driving and rude, inconsiderate drivers. While the very sensible hands-free cell phone law might stop those distracted with telephone conversations, we are at a loss as to what will stop those drivers who apparently just choose not to follow the law.

One stop sign near my house is ''blown'' so often that a neighbor has named it the ''stop-tional'' sign. And, from what we see and hear, that trend is spreading to other stop signs all over the peninsula. Equally contagious, it seems, is the ''trend'' to pass a car on the right as you both turn left --- dangerous in any circumstance, but almost deadly on Great Neck's narrow, crowded streets.

We must also mention a growing ''favorite'' of so many of our rude, inconsiderate drivers --- double parking on Great Neck's bustling, narrow, business district streets. Yes, those drivers are indeed rude and inconsiderate, but I wonder if they realize that they are jeopardizing lives when they block roads and block the vision of both drivers and pedestrians.

And while we are on the topic of thoughtless drivers, how about the ones who park on the street and then suddenly fling open the door. Do they realize they could cause a serious accident? We know firsthand about just such a disaster. A pretty bad accident was caused right here in Great Neck recently when a car went into a commercial van, after the van had to stop short to avoid hitting a woman opening her car door into a traffic lane. She did not understand what she had done wrong ... so she just left.

We could go on and on, but we won't. Just suffice it to say that we should all use our heads and follow the law when we drive. Arriving a few minutes late never killed anyone; but disregarding traffic laws while you rush has claimed many, many lives.

And please, please, remember to watch out for the children when you drive!

- Wendy Karpel Kreitzman