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Speak Out
Tire-maker's new plan is bad idea
Perhaps your readers have learned, as I did, of the plans by B.F. Goodrich to introduce tires with colored tread. Such tread would leave colored skid marks.
To make available to the general public such a product is to encourage reckless and dangerous driving--it is general knowledge that a locked wheel has no steering capability. Of course, this product would have great appeal to the younger generation--those whose driving skills and understandings of consequences have yet to mature.
A somewhat more localized, but significantly serious issue, is that of gangs. Gangs choosing to make their 'mark' in an opposing gang's territory would be encouraged to obtain such tires. From firsthand observation, I know that the 'tagging' of buildings and signs is a nationwide problem. Goodrich would be giving these persons another venue of expression.
A more socially responsible plan would be to develop a tire that left no marks! That would have the advantage of cleaning up our skid-marked highways. (Have you driven Highway 17 to Santa Cruz recently?)
It took a few phone calls to find the address for B.F. Goodrich corporate headquarters, and I pass it on to readers wishing to express their concern as I did. Michelin America Small Tires, B.F.Goodrich, 1 Parkway South, P.O. Box 19001, Greenville, SC 29602-9001.
Ken Pannabecker
Los Gatos
SB335 discriminates based on driver's age
If you're following the current debate surrounding stricter testing for California drivers age 75 and older, you're aware of the difficulties posed when society must balance the rights of all its citizens.
The California Department of Motor Vehicles certainly has a valid point in wanting to keep state roads safe; however, the arguments against Senate Bill 335 are also valid. The American Association of Retired Persons opposes the bill on grounds that it discriminates against senior citizens; AARP lobbyists say other states have resolved this issue without enacting laws that target seniors.
About 830,000 of California's licensed drivers are above age 75; 106,000 of those are older than 85, according to DMV records. SB 335, introduced by state Sen. Tom Hayden (D-Los Angeles), includes a provision authorizing the state to develop alternative transportation programs by Jan. 1, 2002, for seniors who lose their driving privileges (but no funding is included for that provision).
California drivers with clean records receive automatic renewals, but that practice would end when drivers reach age 75, if SB335 passes. If passed, the bill would impose mandatory behind-the-wheel driving tests for drivers age 75 and older when renewing licenses. Additionally, the time between license renewals would be shortened based on age.
The bill won a narrow victory in the California Senate and is now in the Assembly Transportation Committee. Disagreements about it do not fall along age lines. Sixty-seven-year-old state senators Richard Mountjoy (R-Monrovia) and Betty Karnette (D-Long Beach) argue opposing views. Mountjoy says the "bill punishes one group of people simply because of their age." Karnette counters that it protects that group. "It's because we care about them," she says.
Truly caring about senior citizens requires being sensitive to their needs, especially that dearest one of remaining independent in their final years. With luck, we'll all face the same issue in our lives. Would you be willing to have tougher standards because of your age?
David B. Ferguson
President and CEO
American Baptist Homes of the West
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Willow Glen, California Since 1992
