To the Editor:

This letter will address the subject of behaving honorably with regard to confessing to one’s mistakes and wrongdoing. I live in an historic 1827 schoolhouse on the corner of State Route 156 (the Voorheesville-Altamont Road) and County Route 202 (Meadowdale Road).

Surrounding the house is also an historic stonewall located off the pavement well outside the designated lanes of travel. Occasionally, it is struck y vehicles involved in accidents at the intersection and drivers have come forward to compensate me for the damage.

Over the 25 years my family has lived here, I have been experiencing that tractor-trailer drivers bound for the industrial park at Guilderland Center are crashing into the wall. This is because the turn in front of my house from Route 156 onto Route 202 is less than 90 degrees and the rear axle on the trailer cuts into and smashes our historic stonewall.

This could be prevented if they were alert operators. They are doing this damage in the early morning hours when I am sleeping and make no attempt to stop and admit their mistake.

How do I know it is tractor-trailers? The evidence is clear from the damage: Dual-wheel tire tracks left in the dirt and the fact that any regular vehicle would not be able to drive away after running over so many rocks.

This has happened nine times in the past 15 years and I have only been able to catch one tractor-trailer driver because he actually became hung-up on the wall.

Another time, I was awakened by the crashing sounds only to see the tractor-trailer speeding away toward Guilderland Center. I did call the Sheriffs’ office and they responded in a reasonable amount of time. They informed me that, without a clear description of the truck or a plate number, it would be difficult to follow up.

It was too dark to see these details as the truck was driving away and I was too incapacitated by sleep to start my own high-speed chase and a confrontation.

Why do I surmise that the trucks are bound for the Guilderland Center industrial park? Because the one tractor-trailer driver who was caught said that he and other drivers miss the turn in Voorheesville by the firehouse to turn onto School/Depot Road and the next turn that their GPS advises them to use is Meadowdale Road, County Route 202. If you are familiar with the intersection at Route 156 and Route 202, you know it is narrow partly because of the schoolhouse’s historic proximity to the road.

Any large truck and especially tractor-trailers west bound for Altamont and trying to turn north onto Route 202 cannot stay legally within the appropriate lanes of travel. In order to make the turn, they must enter into the lane of opposing traffic, consequently potentially causing a head-on collision. If a vehicle is trying to exit Route 202 onto Route 156, the trucks, including school buses, must wait until the intersection is cleared while still sometimes leaving the pavement on the opposite side of the road and onto my neighbor’s lawn.

The intersection is not suited for truck traffic, especially tractor-trailers. Out of frustration, last year I decided to ask the sheriff’s office and the county highway department to keep a record of the wall damage as I became fed up with repairing this historic wall at my expense. On Aug. 19, 2015, the wall was smashed again by a hit-and-run tractor-trailer driver, the evidence was clear and I called the sheriff’s office.

The responding officers were very kind and concerned while suggesting maybe a camera at the intersection would catch the perpetrator. I also have been in communication with Albany County Highway Commissioner Daryl Duncan who has been very attentive to the situation.

He has directed the appropriate personnel to investigate whether it would be necessary to install a sign prohibiting large truck through traffic on Route 202. Without widening the intersection, which would adversely affect the historic site, I believe banning tractor-trailers from traveling on Route 202 would be the appropriate action for the time being.

To the subject of behaving honorably, let’s look at the drivers who are doing the damage to my property. They know they have run into my stonewall and possibly damaged their vehicle or trailer.

They do not stop to admit their involvement. This is dishonorable and against the law, it is called hit and run! If anyone inflicted this crime on the property of the same vehicle or truck driver, he would become irate with anger. Double standards and dishonorable behavior are unacceptable.

I have noticed that these human characteristics are common in our society and it is very disheartening.

Do unto others as you would have them do unto you! Be Honest!

Those who are not honest will one day, in some way, pay!

Timothy J. Albright

Meadowdale