The landscape truck runs a four-way stop, nearly clipping an oncoming driver. The moped operator is hot dogging it, running the two-wheeled machine up onto the sidewalk as cars and trucks whiz by on the narrow downtown street. A pedestrian crossing at a busy intersection suddenly disappears, obscured by late-day solar glare.

These are all real and familiar scenes to Islanders as they make the adjustment from the empty streets of winter to the crowded lanes and sidewalks of summer. Add to this large numbers of visitors trying to find their way around the one-way streets and unmarked country roads, and you have a near-certain recipe for accidents.

As police and first responders know well, the hazards of summer are too numerous to list. But the best defense is awareness, and now begins the season to take extra time to get where you are going.

The last day of school is Monday. Please remember to watch out for children, and slow down on Island roads.

It could mean the difference between a near miss and tragedy.