County K, 27th Avenue, 5 Corner Road, County P, and that was just Wednesday.
On Thursday, Smock Valley Road, Kubly Road, County M, Jordan Center Road, County H, and I could list many others on the three-hour ride.
These are all roads I witnessed empty beer cans or liquor bottles strewn along the side of while out on my bicycle.
My Thursday riding partner was originally from Montana, where she said, to my naive astonishment, passengers in a vehicle can drink as long as the driver is sober.
While the concept of drinking while driving seemed somewhat shocking to me, at least the concept of drinking in a moving vehicle wasnt to her.
This brings up a point reminiscent to the one made by Green County Sheriff Randy Roderick earlier this week.
He surmised that one cause of the areas drinking while driving problem could be underage people driving around, possibly with others, drinking to avoid being detected. Then, to not get caught by parents or the authorities, the young people throw the beer and liquor containers out the vehicle.
Number one, they are getting rid the evidence, he said.
Meeting at a location to drink would allow underage drinkers to be discovered and arrested, or in the least punished by parents, plus where would they hide the empty containers, Roderick said.
If you were 21 why would you drink it in a car, he said, when it is perfectly acceptable to drink wherever it is legally allowed. I just cant believe there are that many adults doing it.
Roderick was able to give an indication of some kind of scale of the problem.
In 2007, the county arrested 30 people for open intoxicants in a motor vehicle, compared to 42 in 2008. So far in 2009, the Sheriffs department has arrested 39 people.
The increase from year to year, Roderick said, was due to a lack of resources. In 2007, the department was short a few patrol officers, and as those positions were filled over the next two years, the numbers of arrests likely went up accordingly, he said.
Each year the Sheriffs department also applies for a $10,000 state Department of Transportation grant that helps pay for drunk driving enforcement efforts, which could also help detect drivers who drink behind the wheel.
The disappointing part of this problem is there might be little that can be done to stop the practice other than education, Roderick said.
How do you prevent that, other than education, he said, like parents talking to kids about drinking.
Green County Farmhouse Project
Please continue to send farmhouse pictures so I can get this thing up and running. Dont forget, pictures must be simple snap shots of a farmhouse in Green County taken from directly in front of the home, no people or barns please. The only information I ask is for the name of the street, if you wish, but more importantly the name of the town or city the farm is located in. Please e-mail your photos to newseditor@themonroetimes.com.
Take care and watch out for bicycles.
On Thursday, Smock Valley Road, Kubly Road, County M, Jordan Center Road, County H, and I could list many others on the three-hour ride.
These are all roads I witnessed empty beer cans or liquor bottles strewn along the side of while out on my bicycle.
My Thursday riding partner was originally from Montana, where she said, to my naive astonishment, passengers in a vehicle can drink as long as the driver is sober.
While the concept of drinking while driving seemed somewhat shocking to me, at least the concept of drinking in a moving vehicle wasnt to her.
This brings up a point reminiscent to the one made by Green County Sheriff Randy Roderick earlier this week.
He surmised that one cause of the areas drinking while driving problem could be underage people driving around, possibly with others, drinking to avoid being detected. Then, to not get caught by parents or the authorities, the young people throw the beer and liquor containers out the vehicle.
Number one, they are getting rid the evidence, he said.
Meeting at a location to drink would allow underage drinkers to be discovered and arrested, or in the least punished by parents, plus where would they hide the empty containers, Roderick said.
If you were 21 why would you drink it in a car, he said, when it is perfectly acceptable to drink wherever it is legally allowed. I just cant believe there are that many adults doing it.
Roderick was able to give an indication of some kind of scale of the problem.
In 2007, the county arrested 30 people for open intoxicants in a motor vehicle, compared to 42 in 2008. So far in 2009, the Sheriffs department has arrested 39 people.
The increase from year to year, Roderick said, was due to a lack of resources. In 2007, the department was short a few patrol officers, and as those positions were filled over the next two years, the numbers of arrests likely went up accordingly, he said.
Each year the Sheriffs department also applies for a $10,000 state Department of Transportation grant that helps pay for drunk driving enforcement efforts, which could also help detect drivers who drink behind the wheel.
The disappointing part of this problem is there might be little that can be done to stop the practice other than education, Roderick said.
How do you prevent that, other than education, he said, like parents talking to kids about drinking.
Green County Farmhouse Project
Please continue to send farmhouse pictures so I can get this thing up and running. Dont forget, pictures must be simple snap shots of a farmhouse in Green County taken from directly in front of the home, no people or barns please. The only information I ask is for the name of the street, if you wish, but more importantly the name of the town or city the farm is located in. Please e-mail your photos to newseditor@themonroetimes.com.
Take care and watch out for bicycles.
