Be safe onLabor Day

Labor Day weekend is upon us, the official end of summer, and one of the busiest and often bloodiest holiday weekends of the year.

The good news is that we're off to a pretty good start this summer. The number of fatal accidents in the Valley has dropped dramatically from last year when by this time 11 people had died on county roads.

With two highway deaths to date, we can only hope that the message to be careful and buckle up has been heard.

But there's a lot of days left in the year and we would rather this weekend didn't start a new trend of death on the highways.

We realize the cost of gasoline may have slowed down the holiday traffic, but those who are on the road, whether to the beach or mountains, still have the same distractions.

Warm temperatures, the anticipation of good times and vehicles chock full of toys and children all contribute to the general struggle to pay attention.

That's why we implore our readers to be careful on the highways and in their recreational pursuits.

We would like to have all of our readers back on Wednesday.