Show Highway Shooters I PAre fAre Threat I To Motorists v The safety of motorists and andr N r residents is being threatened byn by ran fan upsurge in sign vandalism L Concentrated efforts to curtail N sign vandalism on the part of Utah Highway Patrol local law aw enforcement agencies and andI I Justices of the peace have failed and the toll continues to rise j A recent Investigation noted Instances where farmhouses and and pastures were the only backstop behind riddled bullet-riddled signs Igns Signs on curves were shot from angles Indicating that motorists motorists mo mo- could easily be struck by deflected bullets I Many signs were rendered useless by blasts of buckshot and and nd larger caliber bullets Im ImPact Impact Impact Im- Im pact removed paint far beyond the he perimeter of the actual bullet bullet bullet bul- bul bul bul- let holes Some signs had as any nany as 35 holes leaving only the coloring and shape of the theto aign ign to warn unfamiliar motor- motor The lives of entire families fam fam- Illes depend on sign messages particularly on strange stretches stretch- stretch les es of rural highway I Last fiscal year the Highway Department alone spent over thousand to replace re rePaIr repair repair re- re pair or maintain road signs By y June estimates IndI- IndI ate te over a quarter of a million Will be spent 1 l Using an average of 40 per sign we find that since last luly July signs fell victim to toie the he ie marksman and periodic highway accidents P I Incredibly there have been no deaths or serious Injuries di directly dl- dl attributed to indi individual vIdual Highway officials still onder wonder about the numerous one- one far aar car accidents occurring each year ar and how many of these may ay have been caused by sharp- sharp r having a good ti time ico e. e |