How best to pursue safety on our roads?

I was riding my bike into town one day when I noticed a woman pulling up to a stop sign along the service road by Pizza Hut. She smiled as she frantically put on her seat belt. She had probably been driving for just moments.

She's lucky because if she had been spotted in those few moments by a police officer, she would have been cited. I was riding my bike across the field on the north edge of Morris. I was on a road that gives meaning to the term "non-maintained." It has always been like that.

Many years ago I was biking home late one night, around 3 a.m. in fact (so it's morning?), and headed onto that road. I was working late at the newspaper that night, proofreading. It was my habit Tuesday night when I had to wrap up the sports pages of the Hancock Record and get ready for Wednesday "press day" of the Morris paper. The Morris paper appeared on Tuesday and Thursday then.

I pedaled toward home along Columbia Avenue, took a right onto the state highway for a very short stretch, and then went north along that primitive road. A Morris police officer spotted me and chased me across the field.

I pulled over, then turned to stare at the oncoming vehicle whose lights weren't flashing. A vehicle on that road at that hour was unthinkable. So I figured it was probably police.

The officer recognized me in short order and everything was cool. Not only did he know who I was, he probably knew I lived a short distance to the north.

I wonder what would happen today. Number one, I'm much less well-known today. I have "bum" status in this town, having been out of work for six years. And secondly, police seem far less inclined to be "cool" about things.
That nice lady in the car who appeared to have driven a couple blocks without putting on her seat belt would get nailed today.

I got an email from someone who reported she got a ticket just driving from one place of business downtown to another. I saw the flashing lights of a police car by the Willie's parking lot just a couple days ago. Was it another of those ubiquitous seat belt infractions?

I wonder if the officers deep down really feel comfortable doing this. Perhaps they blot out all feelings and figure they just have to do their jobs.

Today if I were riding my bike across that field at 3 a.m. and an officer gave chase, I might have real cause to worry. Would the officer pull his gun on me? Would I be at risk of getting shot and killed if I made some "gesture" that he interpreted as threatening? Incidents like these do happen.

I think the officer spotted me because there had been some thefts at Super 8 Motel. He was probably positioned accordingly. And then he thought, "who is that character out riding his bike at this hour?"

Technically the road across that field is non-public; it's University of MN property. But no one has reservations about using it. Forget using it if the conditions are wet and muddy. Forget using it once snowdrifts form over it.

To get from Columbia Avenue to that road you use the highway for just a couple blocks. At 3 a.m. there's barely any traffic on the highway. But I am immensely careful bicycling on any road more major than a county road. In daytime hours it would be essential to use the shoulder. Even then I don't simply trust all the vehicle drivers who would swish past me. I would rely on my sense of hearing and glance backward, using peripheral vision, to make sure there was clearance between me and the vehicles.

You really can't be too careful.

It's probably fundamentally unsafe for a bicyclist to use any road more major than a county road. I have told people "it only takes one" sleep-deprived truck driver to wipe you out. The danger is probably greater in this age of distracted driving, "data overload" and multi-tasking.

All this comes to mind reflecting on the recent tragic death of Richard Vos of Belgrade. He was a popular teacher and coach, as emphasized strongly in a regional daily paper, although there would be no less cause for sympathy even if he was an undistinguished soul.

Mr. Vos was on bicycle "before 5 a.m.," the newspaper noted. I wondered if that was a typo. "Was it really 5 a.m.?" Yes, I later learned, it was 5 a.m. and this fellow was on bike on U.S. Highway 71 south of Belgrade.

Vos was a math teacher and coach at the BBE school. He was struck by a semi truck going south like him.

The Willmar newspaper reported that the road at the scene had a gravel shoulder. So I suspect Mr. Vos may well have been riding along the highway rather than on the shoulder. He was wearing a reflective vest. The article reported "there were lights found at the scene that may have come from the bike."

While Vos may have been thoughtful taking these precautions, in my opinion he was in error thinking he was safe. At 5 a.m. you can cut the darkness with a knife. There may be various lights along or near the road that make it hard for bike lights to get your attention. At 5 a.m. a truck driver isn't going to expect seeing a bicyclist along a highway like this.

I'm trying to cut a little slack for the driver whose name is Brian Anderson and who I'm sure is devastated by this. It will hang like a cloud over the rest of his life.

The newspaper emphasized "the road there is flat and straight," so the reporters are hinting, in my view, that Anderson is truly negligent. According to the law he may well be judged negligent. But how many of us might be thinking to ourselves, "there but for the grace of God go I."

I'm assuming that Vos wasn't in violation of any traffic laws. Bicyclists are allowed to proceed as if they are motorized traffic, aren't they? And yet, I think the average person would look at how Vos was traveling at that hour and think it was quite dangerous. That's certainly how I'd assess it.

It's illegal to drive anywhere at any time or at any speed without wearing your seat belt. There's no discretion. And yet Vos (in his dangerous position) was probably in the clear legally. It does seem odd.

I think many of us view the aggressive seat belt enforcement as just a way to get money into state coffers. Republicans push for this because they want to keep taxes minimal. "Fees and fines" get pushed upward but when will the public start pushing back?

The seat belt infraction once cost $40. Now it's $110. It was once just a secondary offense because this was the only way lawmakers could sell it to the public. Then they pushed it up to being a primary offense. What's that old saying about one's "life, liberty and property not being safe when the legislature is in session?"

Now I read in the Star Tribune about "pedestrian crosswalk stings" that are beginning to crop up. One of these citations will set you back $178. As with seat belt enforcement, police aren't above using deceit and deception (i.e. plainclothes officers) to carry this out.
All to satisfy their Republican masters in the state legislature.

How many people who are living "paycheck to paycheck" are going to be devastated by one of these citations?

Police say as if hypnotized that it's all for safety. Police are supposed to use discretion. When judging speeding, for example, they're supposed to consider the driving conditions. But we seem to see this discretion less and less. Each citation spells more money for those starved state coffers. The money comes pouring into a collection center in Willmar.

There actually has been talk of tighter enforcement of traffic laws for bicyclists. This discussion has sprouted in Morris. Shall we ticket a kid riding his bike through a stop sign? That time may be coming. Let's all suck our cheeks in, because things are going to get very tight.

Republicans absolutely scream about not wanting to be taxed more. So us common souls who simply have to get out and about have to be more careful and vigilant.

Of course, you don't have to vote Republican.

- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com