To the editor: In 1735, Benjamin Franklin wisely said, "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure," and it still makes total sense. Drivers in Los Angeles are more distracted than ever before.

While staring at their many devices, they drive too fast. Sadly, I witness this reckless behavior every day right in front of my house. I’ve been begging for years for solutions without any response from the city, swatting me away like an annoying fly.

When enough people are hurt or killed by speeding drivers, the expected reaction is to then install a traffic signal or stop signs to remind people to simply slow down. This concerned father's unorthodox methods seem to come out of total frustration and constant worry for the safety of the people in his neighborhood (“South Bay father arrested after repainting crosswalk, adding stop signs near children’s park,” March 26). But the powers that be who make these important decisions should remember some other words of wisdom: Better safe than sorry. Bureaucracy is full of red tape. This father’s only crime was to care enough for his community's welfare to prevent the next headline.

Think about that next time you are racing through an area with children. It could end a life and ruin your own.

Frances Terrell Lippman, Sherman Oaks

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To the editor: I read with interest the article about a father taking matters into his own hands regarding what he thought was an unsafe intersection near his home and a park.

I also live near an unsafe intersection. I have asked on multiple occasions that Councilmember Adrin Nazarian’s office take action, but I have been told the intersection does not meet the requirements to add the sign I requested.

At the intersection near my home, my street (a north-south street) does not have a stop sign. The street going in the opposite direction has the stop. But I have driven through that intersection on numerous occasions and have almost gotten into accidents because the east-west traffic barely slows down, either because they assume the opposite direction has a stop sign or they just don’t care to fully stop.

I often think that someone will have to be seriously injured or killed before the city will take action. Why does it have to come to that?

Ann-Marie Whitman, Studio City

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.