maa@ssc-bee.UUCP (Mark A Allyn) (09/19/85)
Just a suggestion from a bicyclist whose tires are sensitive to all of the broken glass found on the roads nowadays. I would like to hear feedback on the following suggestion from both fellow bicyclists and drivers - hence posting on both net.bicycle and net.auto. Since much of the broken glass that I see appears to be the result of accidents and fender benders (broken headlights) I would like to see a requirement that all parties in an accidents are responsible to ensure that ALL debris be cleaned up after the accident. Maybee the police officer responding to the accident should have as one of the items on his check list or whatever to ensure that the scene is swepted and policed following an accident just as in a laboratory situation where the area is completly cleaned and policed after any sort of accident. I know that in the labs where I work that if there is an accident and the area is not swept and policed, there would H**L to pay! I would like to see the same standards applied to our streets. Just A Suggestion From Mark A. Allyn !uw-beaver!ssc-vax!ssc_bee!maa
gnosis@fluke.UUCP (Chris Villani) (09/20/85)
In article <377@ssc-bee.UUCP> maa@ssc-bee.UUCP (Mark A Allyn) writes: >Just a suggestion from a bicyclist whose tires are sensitive to all >of the broken glass found on the roads nowadays. > >Since much of the broken glass that I see appears to be the result of >accidents and fender benders (broken headlights) I would like to see >a requirement that all parties in an accidents are responsible to ensure >that ALL debris be cleaned up after the accident. The idea has merit, but I beg to differ with you as to the source of the glass. I run about 70-90 miles/week when in training which gives me an opportunity to see lots of pavement. The vast majority of glass I encounter is the result of discarded alcoholic beverages bottles. Living near a high school doesn't seem to help this problem either. More than once I've had to pick a piece of broken bottle neck or the like from my shoe. Again, your idea is praiseworthy. I just wish there was some way to overcome blatant disregard for public safety and cleanliness. Any ideas? Chris Villani
hammond@noscvax.UUCP (John A. Hammond) (09/23/85)
> accidents and fender benders (broken headlights) I would like to see > a requirement that all parties in an accidents are responsible to ensure > that ALL debris be cleaned up after the accident. Maybee the police officer I have recently observed that the bulk of the glass is from six-packs of beer discarded along side the road. Having been involved in two recent accidents ( one in Las Vegas and the other in Lemon Grove ) the tow truck operators cleared up all of the debris and carted it off on their truck. -- ARPA/MILNET -- hammond@nosc UUCP -- ihnp4 \ akgua \ decvax > !sdcsvax!noscvax!hammond dcdwest / ucbvax /
fish@ihlpg.UUCP (Bob Fishell) (09/24/85)
> Since much of the broken glass that I see appears to be the result of > accidents and fender benders (broken headlights) I would like to see > a requirement that all parties in an accidents are responsible to ensure > that ALL debris be cleaned up after the accident. *** AC T YOUR AGE *** Most of the broken glass around here seems to be from benders of another kind, namely, drunken teenagers throwing beer bottles out of car windows. I would like to see the local police make the little @#$%^&s EAT it. As to cleaning up after accidents, it's pretty hard to clean up after a wreck when you've got a concussion. I think they could pay the tow truck drivers a little extra to sweep up the debris, if they'd do it. Tire savers seem to do a lot to prevent flats from broken glass. I've ridden right over bottle fragments (they make a very distinctive sound) and kept right on going without incident. I've only had two flats from puncture in the last two years, one from a staple piercing the sidewall, another from a rather large nail. Sure, they squeal, but they do work. __ / \ \__/ Bob Fishell ihnp4!ihlpg!fish
seifert@hammer.UUCP (Snoopy) (09/24/85)
In article <1475@vax3.fluke.UUCP> gnosis@fluke.UUCP (Chris Villani) writes: >In article <377@ssc-bee.UUCP> maa@ssc-bee.UUCP (Mark A Allyn) writes: >> >>Since much of the broken glass that I see appears to be the result of >>accidents and fender benders (broken headlights) I would like to see >>a requirement that all parties in an accidents are responsible to ensure >>that ALL debris be cleaned up after the accident. Generally, the people who were *in* the accident are much too shaken up (or worse) to worry about sweeping up the street. Assuming the police come to the scene, it could be part of their task-list to see that any mess gets cleaned up. (and it probably is in most places) > The vast majority of glass I encounter is the result of > discarded alcoholic beverages bottles. ... I just > wish there was some way to overcome blatant disregard for public > safety and cleanliness. Any ideas? That's what BOTTLE DEPOSITS are for. Oregon has a 5 cent deposit on bottles, refillable or not. It should probably be higher. Snoopy tektronix!hammer!seifert tektronix!tekecs!doghouse.TEK!snoopy
rick@rochester.UUCP (Rick Floyd) (09/26/85)
> ..... The vast majority of glass I encounter is the result of discarded > alcoholic beverages bottles. I just wish there was some way to overcome > blatant disregard for public safety and cleanliness. Any ideas? ... The amount of broken glass on roads and bike paths in NY state decreased dramatically after the state legislature enacted a bottle bill. rick floyd rick@rochester.ARPA seismo!rochester!rick
hom@houxm.UUCP (H.MORRIS) (09/26/85)
=========== The best idea, I think, is the most obvious one, namely laws requiring deposits on bottles. Some people will still toss bottles out their windows (unless the deposit is really high), but then young kids, instead of smashing them for amusement, are likely to take them to stores to cash in. The beverage bottlers/distributers, who don't want to retool their industry, claim a number of things including that it will make beverages more expensive. I doubt it, at least in the long run. In New Jersey I managed with difficulty to find a place that sells beer by the case in returnables, and that also happens to be the best buy. A controversial plus to the idea is that it makes the industry more labor-intensive and less natural resources intensive in a time when labor is getting more plentiful and natural resources scarcer. But the manufacturers won't like that since natural resources behave themselves better than labor. I have seen a couple of bottle bills defeated by well-organized lobbying campaigns; posters put in every grocery store showing glum people standing in line with arm-fulls of bottles, or scare campaigns about invasions of cockroaches. A good countering technique might be a coordinated campaign of people going out and gathering bottles for 10 minutes in the vicinity of their homes, and UPSing a box of bottles to their anti-bottle bill congressman.
rdb@drutx.UUCP (BurnhamRD) (09/27/85)
Another solution to glass on roads would be to get rid of the glass. Make all beverage containers either returnable plastic or cans. Cans have the advantage of already being returnable. When I go for a walk I never pass up a can. I prefer them pre-smashed by a passing car.:-) There is hope for the future. Bob Burnham
barrys@hercules.UUCP (Barry Steel) (09/27/85)
This doesn't exactly belong in net.bicycle, but it is vaguely relevant. As you probably know, Oregon has 5 cent deposit on all soft drink and beer containers. I have never seen any lines of people returning bottles &c. It is still cheaper to by soft drinks in "deposit bottles" (ie. refillable). There is still a fair amount of "nickels" tossed by the side of the road, mostly beer cans. My wife and I can usually collect about five dollars worth in a few hours (a good excuse for a slower paced ride on the mountain bikes). In the summer, when (presumably) the consumption is higher, the nice weather gets more people out; hence more people picking up. The most glass is to found on the roads in the wet months. barrys
mikel@codas.UUCP (Mikel Manitius) (10/02/85)
The problem I find with the NY bottle law, is that they do not re-use
the glass, they simply gather it up and dump it, unlike several other places
I know of that actually re-use the glass.
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