I am most thankful I have friends who trust me enough to share their opinions on matters in which we disagree, and are even on opposite sides of an issue. They keep me honest, and I must consider their viewpoints carefully and address why I disagree with them for my own peace of mind.
There are several of my friends who think Center-Line-Rumble-Strips (CLRS)are a good idea. Those who work in the rescue sector (firemen, EMTs, and policemen) see too many accidents and would rest better at night if there were fewer accidents, so they support new measures which reduce accidents, injury and even death. What mother does not have nightmares that one of her children or grandchildren is in an accident which rumble strips could prevent?
I agree with them, yet I maintain that the installation of CLSR should be stopped in Minnesota. CLRS is MnDOT’s answer to reducing the accident rates and resultant injury and deaths on rural highways. If the “rules-of-thumb” for causes of Two-Car-Cross-Over-Center-Line accidents(2CCOCL) from the late ’60s and ’80s are still valid, then twothirds are caused by the aggressive driver—the speeder, the risk-taker—14 percent by drivers under the influence of drugs and alcohol, 10 percent caused by acts of nature, such as deer on the road and adverse weather conditions, 5 percent by mechanical failures, such as tire blowouts and undercarriage failures, and the remaining 5 percent covers everything else, including driver inattention (1 to 2 percent at most).
It costs less to make rural highways No Passing by painting double yellow lines (DYL) than to install rumble strips. If 80 percent of aggressive drivers are inclined to be law abiding then 2CCOCL accidents would be reduced from 66 to 13 percent. While it is not really known what reduction can be expected with CLRS, let’s say all driver-inattention-related accidents are eliminated—that is 2 percent CLRS reduction in accidents.
Compare this 2 percent CLSR reduction to the 53 percent DYL reduction for the same cost, which actually makes our rural highways safer!
So my friends who disagree with me, how do you want to spend your tax dollars with MnDOT to protect your families? Do you want the most protection for your family (53 percent) or the least (2 percent)? Is it worth your time to fight for your family, friends, and neighbors, and even all of Minnesota? I know it is worth my time.
Chuck Flickinger
Grand Marais
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