Safety issues vital but separate

I have seen goofs in the New Haven Register before, some humorous, others leading me to wonder whether the writer, photo editor or layout person is simply going through the motions. One such error appeared not once or twice, but three times in the same front-page story in the Sunday, Oct. 9 Register.

“Pedestrian Deaths increasing in Conn.” is a page 1 story accompanied by a photo of a Milford police cruiser guarding the scene of a fatal accident due to a “wrong-way driver.” Whether the victim was a pedestrian is not clear, so I did not question the photo. But turning to the continuation of the story on page A31, I found a large photo of a highway ramp with “Wrong Way” signs and a caption noting that warning lights were installed along this I-84 exit ramp to help “combat wrong-way driving.” Was the photo separate item? I was not sure. I read “Pedestrians” to the end and there found a third photo, this one showing a Bridgeport police cruiser and a caption also noting a fatality in a wrong-way crash on I-95.

It appears that all three photos were indeed chosen to illustrate this story. I read the story again, trying to find any mention of pedestrians killed by wrong way drivers … but there was nothing.

The issues of pedestrian deaths and wrong way crashes are righteous and heavily discussed by transportation officials, but careless editing left me and perhaps others wondering why we should care about either subject when the editors don't seem to know the difference?

Print media is an industry in peril, and this sort of careless editing devalues it even more. Take pride in what you do! Quality control can be as simple as reading what is on the page before pushing the print button. Eli Sherer

Madison