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11-19-2006, 08:29 PM
Saw this story on the Anchorage Daily News website; http://www.adn.com/news/alaska/rural/story/8423879p-8318198c.html
ATVs snowmachines onto Bethel streets
ACCIDENTS: Critics fear increased wrecks, serious injuries with open vehicles.
By ALEX deMARBAN
Anchorage Daily News
Published: November 19, 2006
Last Modified: November 19, 2006 at 01:33 AM
Snowmachiners and four-wheelers are whining behind cars and trucks in the Western Alaska city of Bethel, thanks to a new ordinance letting them travel on city streets.
Proponents say it will save gas money during a time of painfully high prices.
But the police chief is bracing for bloodier accidents. The local hospital is warning open-air motorists in the city of 6,000 to don helmets.
Rumbling icons of village life, snowmachines and all-terrain vehicles are used for everything from hunting caribou to hauling fuel to taxiing passengers to airstrips. But Bethel, unlike comparable Bush communities in Western Alaska, hasn't allowed them on roads for years.
The machines don't mix with the taxis, trucks and flatbed trailers that make 8,000 trips a day, Police Chief Ben Dudley said. ATVs and snowmachines are designed for snow or mud. They can't turn and stop quickly on black ice or thin snow, he said.
"I foresee a rise in accidents, and I'm anticipating a rise in personal-injury-type accidents, because you don't have the protection of a vehicle body around you," Dudley said.
Snowmachine and ATV traffic has been light since the new law allowed them on roads three weeks ago, Dudley said. But it will increase when the Kuskokwim River connecting villages to Bethel freezes solid. That's when out-of-towners straddling sleds and Hondas, as they're often called in villages, roar up to Bethel's stores to buy groceries.
Charles Willert said 25-below wind chills are keeping many open-air vehicles off the road. He'll take advantage of the law next summer though.
Lots of people will, he said, because you "can get by on two gallons a week versus 20 gallons."
The City Council passed the ordinance in late September. Riders must have a driver's license and follow traffic laws. They can't speed and must use hand signals, and machines must be insured, among other things, Dudley said. They can use the roughly 25 miles of city streets but not state-maintained roads like the 4.4-mile Chief Eddie Hoffman Highway.
The Police Department hasn't ticketed riders yet, but is trying to educate them about the new ordinance, such as where they can ride, Dudley said.
Councilman Stanley "Tundy" Rodgers proposed the ordinance, saying it will help people afford gasoline that costs $4.38 per gallon. Off-road vehicles get much better gas mileage than cars or trucks, he said.
ATV and snowmachine riders have long used an extensive network of trails in Bethel, but occasionally drive beside or on roads briefly, Rodgers said. They've done that without repercussions, he said.
But police cracked down on ATV riders last summer, he said, ticketing them and impounding their vehicles. People called his house to complain about the harsh treatment. That jump-started his effort to change the law. People shouldn't be penalized for practicing a rural way of life in the Bush, he said.
"You get a bunch of idiot cops that want to enforce state laws that should not apply to here," he said. "How the heck do you think half these people get around? This is not Los Angeles."
There was no extra ATV enforcement last summer, Dudley said.
Before the new law, ATVs and snowmachines had to follow state law, he said. They couldn't ride on a road, or within three feet of a road's shoulder. They could cross the road at a 90-degree angle after stopping. Those rules still apply for state-maintained roads.
Putting off-road vehicles on roads doesn't lead to more accidents, but does cause more gruesome injuries, said Chief John Ward of Kotzebue. Like Bethel, the Northwest Alaska city of 3,100 is a hub for surrounding villages.
People don't need a driver's license to use ATVs or snowmachines on city streets there, Ward said, but drivers must be 14 years or older.
Two teenagers who had been drinking plowed into a pickup last New Year's Eve, he said. Both left the accident with broken legs.
The machines are less visible than other traffic, he said. A man reversing a road grader ran over an elderly man on a four-wheeler last year, killing him, Ward said.
"I can have 15 cars or trucks pile up and no one's seriously hurt, but one snowmachine wreck" can cause severe head injuries or worse, he said.
Alice Ruby, Dillingham mayor, said snowmachines and ATVs are allowed on some city roads in that Southwest community of 2,400. But they're illegal in the town center containing most of the public buildings and stores, she said.
Pedestrians often use the area, and snowmachines have been outlawed there for many years, she said. Last year, the council added all-terrain vehicles, prohibiting them from the 1-square-mile area, she said.
Citizens who asked for the change said ATVs aren't street vehicles and shouldn't mix with cars and pedestrians, she said.
In Bethel, Brian Lefferts, an injury-control manager for the hospital, said last week in a press release that accidental injuries are the third most common cause of death in that region. Half of those injuries involve alcohol, he said.
The hospital is urging drivers not to drink, to wear helmets and other safety gear, and to make sure tow lines for sleds are rigid bars, not a rope or cable.
Accidents won't necessarily increase, said Mark Springer, vice chair for Bethel's transportation and public safety commission.
"If people obey traffic laws and drive without impairment, there should not be a particularly greater risk for accidents," he said.
ATVs snowmachines onto Bethel streets
ACCIDENTS: Critics fear increased wrecks, serious injuries with open vehicles.
By ALEX deMARBAN
Anchorage Daily News
Published: November 19, 2006
Last Modified: November 19, 2006 at 01:33 AM
Snowmachiners and four-wheelers are whining behind cars and trucks in the Western Alaska city of Bethel, thanks to a new ordinance letting them travel on city streets.
Proponents say it will save gas money during a time of painfully high prices.
But the police chief is bracing for bloodier accidents. The local hospital is warning open-air motorists in the city of 6,000 to don helmets.
Rumbling icons of village life, snowmachines and all-terrain vehicles are used for everything from hunting caribou to hauling fuel to taxiing passengers to airstrips. But Bethel, unlike comparable Bush communities in Western Alaska, hasn't allowed them on roads for years.
The machines don't mix with the taxis, trucks and flatbed trailers that make 8,000 trips a day, Police Chief Ben Dudley said. ATVs and snowmachines are designed for snow or mud. They can't turn and stop quickly on black ice or thin snow, he said.
"I foresee a rise in accidents, and I'm anticipating a rise in personal-injury-type accidents, because you don't have the protection of a vehicle body around you," Dudley said.
Snowmachine and ATV traffic has been light since the new law allowed them on roads three weeks ago, Dudley said. But it will increase when the Kuskokwim River connecting villages to Bethel freezes solid. That's when out-of-towners straddling sleds and Hondas, as they're often called in villages, roar up to Bethel's stores to buy groceries.
Charles Willert said 25-below wind chills are keeping many open-air vehicles off the road. He'll take advantage of the law next summer though.
Lots of people will, he said, because you "can get by on two gallons a week versus 20 gallons."
The City Council passed the ordinance in late September. Riders must have a driver's license and follow traffic laws. They can't speed and must use hand signals, and machines must be insured, among other things, Dudley said. They can use the roughly 25 miles of city streets but not state-maintained roads like the 4.4-mile Chief Eddie Hoffman Highway.
The Police Department hasn't ticketed riders yet, but is trying to educate them about the new ordinance, such as where they can ride, Dudley said.
Councilman Stanley "Tundy" Rodgers proposed the ordinance, saying it will help people afford gasoline that costs $4.38 per gallon. Off-road vehicles get much better gas mileage than cars or trucks, he said.
ATV and snowmachine riders have long used an extensive network of trails in Bethel, but occasionally drive beside or on roads briefly, Rodgers said. They've done that without repercussions, he said.
But police cracked down on ATV riders last summer, he said, ticketing them and impounding their vehicles. People called his house to complain about the harsh treatment. That jump-started his effort to change the law. People shouldn't be penalized for practicing a rural way of life in the Bush, he said.
"You get a bunch of idiot cops that want to enforce state laws that should not apply to here," he said. "How the heck do you think half these people get around? This is not Los Angeles."
There was no extra ATV enforcement last summer, Dudley said.
Before the new law, ATVs and snowmachines had to follow state law, he said. They couldn't ride on a road, or within three feet of a road's shoulder. They could cross the road at a 90-degree angle after stopping. Those rules still apply for state-maintained roads.
Putting off-road vehicles on roads doesn't lead to more accidents, but does cause more gruesome injuries, said Chief John Ward of Kotzebue. Like Bethel, the Northwest Alaska city of 3,100 is a hub for surrounding villages.
People don't need a driver's license to use ATVs or snowmachines on city streets there, Ward said, but drivers must be 14 years or older.
Two teenagers who had been drinking plowed into a pickup last New Year's Eve, he said. Both left the accident with broken legs.
The machines are less visible than other traffic, he said. A man reversing a road grader ran over an elderly man on a four-wheeler last year, killing him, Ward said.
"I can have 15 cars or trucks pile up and no one's seriously hurt, but one snowmachine wreck" can cause severe head injuries or worse, he said.
Alice Ruby, Dillingham mayor, said snowmachines and ATVs are allowed on some city roads in that Southwest community of 2,400. But they're illegal in the town center containing most of the public buildings and stores, she said.
Pedestrians often use the area, and snowmachines have been outlawed there for many years, she said. Last year, the council added all-terrain vehicles, prohibiting them from the 1-square-mile area, she said.
Citizens who asked for the change said ATVs aren't street vehicles and shouldn't mix with cars and pedestrians, she said.
In Bethel, Brian Lefferts, an injury-control manager for the hospital, said last week in a press release that accidental injuries are the third most common cause of death in that region. Half of those injuries involve alcohol, he said.
The hospital is urging drivers not to drink, to wear helmets and other safety gear, and to make sure tow lines for sleds are rigid bars, not a rope or cable.
Accidents won't necessarily increase, said Mark Springer, vice chair for Bethel's transportation and public safety commission.
"If people obey traffic laws and drive without impairment, there should not be a particularly greater risk for accidents," he said.