Presumably, if you are able to obtain a license to operate a motor vehicle, you are aware of your responsibility to operate it safely and abide by traffic laws. But that doesn’t seem to be the case.

In fact, several East Lansing residents have requested the city conduct traffic studies to validate putting more crosswalks and stop signs on neighborhood streets because of growing concerns over motorists driving carelessly and speeding on residential streets.

The problem is not a new one, and it doesn’t belong to East Lansing residents alone. According to the Michigan Department of Transportation, it’s a common problem across the country and has been for some time.

And it doesn’t just happen on neighborhood streets.

People of all ages drive recklessly, carelessly and seemingly ignorant of their surroundings. We see it all the time - drivers speeding, stopping abruptly along a curb to pick up or drop off friends or family members, turning right at a red light where it’s prohibited and pushing the gas pedal a little bit harder to make it past that yellow light.

The problem is that these drivers aren’t paying attention to what they are doing.

It seems as though it is increasingly more common to see motorists chatting on cell phones, eating fast food or doing anything but paying attention to the road in front of them.

Drivers need to realize the lethal potential of the task they are undertaking. When you are behind the wheel of a car, you are at the controls of a potential killing machine.

All it takes is to stop paying attention for a split second and the next thing you know, you’ve run over a child playing on a residential street or are part of a multiple-vehicle crash that could result in your own death or the death of another driver or passengers.

East Lansing residents are right to ask questions about the safety of their city streets. But drivers have a responsibility, too.