In the last few weeks, we’ve reported on several wrecks in Troup County that resulted in life-threatening injuries.

A wreck at the intersection of South Davis Road and Lafayette Parkway resulted in an adult being life-flighted. Last week, four people — and three Troup High students — were hurt in an accident right in front of the entrance to the school, and one of the students was airlifted. On Monday, a postal carrier was rear-ended in a mail truck, resulting in her being airlifted with a head injury.

And those are just some of the recent wrecks in Troup County.

We don’t reference them to place blame on anyone, rather we use them as examples to show how often we’re seeing significant crashes in LaGrange lately.  We’re hopeful all involved make a full recovery.

The LaGrange Police Department worked a total of 2,444 total wrecks in LaGrange last year, a number that rose by almost 200 from the year prior.

That averages out to just under seven accidents per day, although we’re sure many days are much busier than that.

Although we don’t have numbers for 2018, the number of collisions has risen the last few years.

We live in a world where everything is fast-paced. Our internet is never fast enough, our friends and family are the push of a button away and where the hustle and bustle never stops.  Unfortunately, that includes when we’re behind the wheel. Even with the new hands-free driving law, many motorists spend their time in the car on the phone, trying to get a few calls in before their next stop. If you’re doing it legally — with a Bluetooth device — there’s nothing wrong with it.

However, we urge everyone to take a deep breath and slow down. It’s important to remember school, work, family — whatever it is that you’re running late for — is still going to be waiting whether you’re driving 30 miles per hour over the speed limit or right at the speed limit. And we’re sure whoever it is would rather you make it safely, even if you are a few minutes late.

There isn’t a lot of time for slowing down in today’s world, but the road should be one of those places.