One of the facts completely ignoredabout the recent truck crashes near the bottom of the Broad Mountain on Route 93 in Nesquehoning is the fact that thousands of tractor-trailers have come down that hill without incident.

The cause of the wrecks is drivers ignoring the reduced speed limit signs for their trucks. Stopping at the brake check area at the top of the hill could only prevent these wrecks if the drivers actually look at the sign and realize there is a "T" intersection at the bottom. Drivers who know what they are doing can safely get down the hill without stopping. (There is no brake check area going down the Mansion House Hill in Jim Thorpe). They see the 30 mph speed limit sign, slow down and downshift before they begin descending the hill. They let their RPM get up near 2,000, Jake Brakes scaring the deer, saving their brakes as much as possible.When I ran Interstate 68 East into Cumberland, Maryland, I used to challenge myself to get to the bottom without using the brakes, only gear selection and Jake Brake. (I think the grade was 9 miles long).I know a while back the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation made some ridiculous truck route for Route 93. This could only have been created by someone who knows nothing about driving a tractor-trailer. After a truck gets to Hudsondale, it is directed onto Quakake Road to Route 309.That is a 17-mile detour, which takes a truck about 30 minutes. Due to hours-of-service regulations, a driver may be unable to reach his destination. One of the hardest things for a driver to deal with in following truck routes is they do not know where they will end up on the other end; they may end up going past their destination or another road they need to turn onto.One fact is Route 93 is a nationally designated truck route. Another is there are many hills throughout the country that are much worse which are used by trucks every day. A third is being an out-of-state driver and not being familiar with our mountains is an extremely poor excuse.How did they get on Route 93 without going up and down mountains? If you think Route 93 is so bad, take a drive on Route 250 between Colerain and Bridgeport in Ohio. (Be sure to load your vehicle to its maximum weight to get the full effect.)These wrecks are not about trucks not being able to handle the hill, nor about not being unfamiliar with the road. It is solely about the drivers; whether they ignore the signs, or just cannot drive.So, what is the solution?If every place that had a steep hill going into it banned trucks, some places could not have any industries, or get deliveries to a market.Since many times signs taking drivers off their planned route can be confusing to a driver unfamiliar with the area, it should be assumed drivers will continue to come down Route 93.First, add a little stop sign on the sign in the brake check area. Also place an additional sign before the brake check area letting the driver know there is a stop sign at the bottom of the hill (such as "9 percent Grade, 2½ Miles, Stop Sign at Bottom").Second, I do not know what the actual citation or fine is for not stopping at the brake check area, but maybe the state Legislature needs to create a new law such as a $1,000 fine and six-month license suspension. Some sort of camera system would be the most effective enforcement, maybe checked once a week, with citations mailed to offenders. Posting a sign stating the fine, suspension and camera enforcement would hopefully scare theminto stopping.Another option would be a radar actuated sign with flashing lights posted halfway between the top of the hill and the first curve.It is a shame to have to spend time and money on efforts to scare idiots into driving safely. It is just a matter of how far you are willing to go to prevent another wreck.Robert Phillips, Nesquehoning, former owner-operator tractor-trailer driverThe foregoing opinions do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editorial Board or Times News LLC.