| Show A a m mo 2 j I A yo 1 tY oN 1 J 1 t ti s REDWOOD ROAD HAZA HAZARD D i a fp p By Mike Alike Dame 0 t vv Points West Vest Staff There are two problems presented the day a highway is isi i ate I opened for traffic use a means to protect the motorist and a means to protect the pedestrian The two problems are always considered in that order and planning follows that course II If there were no motorists there would be no purpose in building t building major highways Naturally it follows that the first person to consider in opening a new highway would be the motorist since he is the very crux of the matter But what about the pedestrian What about he have comparable rights to the he does not The pedestrian does not have the same rights the motorist has because of the manner in which the state and local laws are set up If a child runs into the path of a car from behind a parked vehicle and is killed the driver of the car may be V convicted of involuntary manslaughter and be given r jail sentence 1 If a car turns into the flow of traffic and is hit broadside by another motorist all kinds of legal complications arise if one of the drivers is killed Who had the right of was the speed one fo the drivers intoxicated Not being a lawyer I can not say all the implications I involved and thus can not speak with authority But the point is K clear the motorist has an overwhelming number of laws to t. t protect him while the pedestrian has only a few The Redwood Road problem presents a hazard to human life especially to the Unfortunately the most w frequent pedestrian along this state highway are youth between J t the ages of 11 and 14 years f Because of the way the s state te and local laws are structured I t all three agencies that would have any means of correcting the It problem are unable to do do doa a thing The State Highway L p Department the County Highway Department and the locala local City Street and Road Departments can do nothing to remedy a J jj the situation Not one of the agencies has any authority to ri- ri rit t alleviate the problem because they are all bound by law not notto to all to all of them have their hands tied kh If one of the students at Eisenhower Junior High Y were I killed none of these agencies would be liable none liable none of those tied hands have handcuffs put on them i Recently a two year old Taylorsville boy died in an open Y canal near The canal is privately owned and the canal company is not required by law to cover it I Eisen Eisenhower ower Junior High students do not seem in the least concerned about abou the traffic hazard they face every morning on tw their way to school Is anyone a handful of citizens and public officials have been in the past With Witt speed limit signs of 50 miles per hour all along Redwood Road when will people slow down When will the speed limit become a life and death limit r see corresponding article page 4 46 S 5 1 7 |
