Opinion Bainbridge Island
Page A6
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Friday, May 2, 2014 • Bainbridge Island Review
Guest Opinion
Keep your mind on the road
B
eing aware that law enforcement officers in Kitsap County were conducting a “Target Zero” campaign last month, aimed at nabbing distracted drivers, I decided to do one of my own. What I found was not only disturbing but completely mindblowing. For several weeks, I decided to pay attention to other drivers and watch their habits. Mostly, I was looking for drivers who were on their phones while driving. The aim of “Target Zero” is to bring attention to driving while distracted and hopefully remind drivers of the seriousness of trying to do anything else while sitting behind the wheel. For the record, I will cop to eating nuts or candy while driving and occasionally drinking from my water bottle. I try hard to do these things only while sitting at red lights. And, in all honesty, I have my cell phone in the passenger seat and if it rings, I will look to see if it is a call from someone that I need to pull over and take. But I never talk on my cell phone while driving and I even go a step farther. I don’t have a “hands free” device because I think driving is a responsibility that needs 100 percent of my attention, 100 percent of the time. During the five days of the Target Zero campaign, 35 troopers, deputies and officers worked 140 hours on the roads and made contact with 467 drivers who officers felt were distracted in some way. From that, 286 infractions were written including 141 for cell phone use and 13 for texting or for using other electronic devices. There were other citations given including speeding and seatbelt infractions. While I am usually only on the road for about an hour in the morning, an hour during the day and another hour driving home from work, I, too, found drivers who were taking some risks that seemed unnecessary and some that seemed way over the line. In my time on the road, I saw 26 drivers on the phone and another 30-plus who appeared to be texting. I also saw at least a dozen drivers who were eating and drinking, everything from french fries to ice cream. turn to opinion | A7
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Letters In response
Parents should get to have a say in curriculum To the editor: Last week, the school board decided to deal with a lack of planning hours for elementary school teachers by reducing the time spent teaching the basics such as reading, writing and arithmetic and adding new curriculum, at a cost of $227,000 per year. The school board also considered a second option to replace the reduced teaching time with increased specialist time (art, music) at $152,000. Because they spend more time teaching, elementary teachers have 30 fewer planning hours per year than high school teachers. Based on my observations as a classroom volunteer, cutting time spent teaching the basics is detrimental to our kids. A third option is to simply pay the teachers for the additional 30 hours. Using public records, I estimated this would cost $105,000. School administrators suggested this was an unacceptable solution because it creates a differential pay scale. Other districts pay teachers more if they work more hours. I asked school board members why we can’t do the same, but received no reply. The school board made its decision in spite of receiving a 93 percent “No” vote from the teachers’ union as part of the process. Parents were not invited to vote, and although the administration requested parents email their input to the school district, there is no report reflecting the input received. Since the board has failed to con-
sider not only the teachers’ but the parents’ views, maybe we should organize and make our collective voices heard. ERIC TURLOFF Bainbridge Island
Sunday shakedown on Bainbridge Island To the editor: It was a beautiful Easter Sunday for a walk, so I grabbed the “Walks on Bainbridge” book by Dave and Alice Shorett and picked Walk #4 – Fletcher Bay. A lovely 2.3-mile loop amid the evergreens and blooming spring flowers, and some breathtaking scenes of the Bay worthy of my camera. As I’m walking along Springridge, I’m stopped by a Bainbridge police car, responding to a call about a “suspicious person” in the neighborhood. Officer takes my name, checks my license, calls in to see if there are any outstanding warrants, and even calls for backup — a second police car arrives. This is at 2:30 p.m. on a glorious sunny Sunday afternoon. I live here. I was out taking a walk with my backpack and camera. And suddenly I’m Public Enemy No. 1? Yes, I know, as the police stated, there have been an unusual number of burglaries on the island and they couldn’t be too careful, but c’mon, people. Use some common sense, and save your 911 calls for something really important, not to harass 66-year-old honest citizens who just want to get some exercise. RON KOLB Sakai Village
P.S. to the Shoretts: You might want to remove this walk from your book.
Thank you
Bainbridge Rotary helps those with hearing loss To the editor: Thanks to a generous grant from the Bainbridge Island Rotary Club, the Community Room of the Bainbridge Public Library will soon install assistive listening technology to make presentations more accessible to people with hearing loss. About 20 percent of people age 45 to 64 have hearing loss, rising to one in three at age 65 – and, with almost 46 percent of Bainbridge residents are over age 50, we have many islanders who can benefit from enhanced listening technology. And not just older folks: a significant number of high school graduates nationally have hearing loss as do many of our returning veterans. This summer, the library’s Community Room, our largest and most used public meeting space, will be equipped with a magnetic induction loop, commonly called a Hearing Loop, that conducts clear sound directly to listeners’ hearing devices through telecoils, or neckloops with earphones. The Bainbridge Public Library looks forward to enhancing for our hearing-impaired patrons the enjoyment of the library’s popular lectures, movies, theatre readings and other programs. It’s not too early to start thinking about your Rotary Auction donations which fund these important community organization projects. LINDA MEIER, PRESIDENT Bainbridge Public Library