A real lifesaver

— It doesn’t look all that significant dividing the northbound from southbound traffic lanes along Interstate 540 in Benton County. It might not even appear sturdy enough to stop a herd of rampaging bulls, much less a speeding car or truck.

But traffic engineers assure us this 25-mile-long high-tension cable barrier being laid in the median between Rogers in Benton County south to Exit 60 in Fayetteville most assuredly will save lives in the coming years. Probably several of them.

How many times in the 17 years since returning to my native Northwest Arkansas have I read about a speeding vehicle crossing the median to strike those heading the opposite direction head-on? Those kinds of catastrophic crashes sadly occur regularly on interstates across the country.

Anyone else recall the state trooper who inexplicably lost control of his patrol car several years back and crossed the median, slamming headlong into a semi on Interstate 40 near Ozark? I’m saying these sorts of terrible accidents can—and do—happen even to the most responsible and careful drivers among us.

In Texas, for instance, experts in 2008 said that 96 percent of the interstate fatalities before 2003 were caused by vehicles crossing the median. On interstate highways with these median cable barriers, those fatalities were cut by an amazing 90 percent.

Hard to believe, especially when you realize these reinforced cables are only three-quarters of an inch thick. But they are rooted firmly in metal posts and, constructed together, they have proven their ability to divert a wayward car bound for a head-on collision.

The nearly $5 million project in Northwest Arkansas is about 60 percent complete, and while running somewhat behind its completion schedule, the effort remains under budget and bound to be a welcome safety addition to freeway-speed traffic between Rogers and Fayetteville. I do believe I’m starting to feel just a tad safer already.

An odd ‘quota’

A former Lowell policeman alleges in a lawsuit that he was fired for refusing to carry out what he claims is an unlawful ticket-quota directive that was not placed in writing.

According to Kevin Knight, who spent almost five years as an officer there between 2007 and 2012, the unwritten directive supposedly called for officers to write 20 to 25 traffic citations each month.

I’ve heard of speed traps in Northwest Arkansas, notorious burgs where officers reportedly are expected to help fund their cities’ budgets by writing a bunch of tickets each duty day, often for those driving barely over the posted speed limit.

But let’s see now. I believe it’s not unreasonable for any patrol officer worth his salt who works city streets 20 days each month to be writing at least one traffic ticket in an eight-hour shift, don’t you think? I mean, that doesn’t seem like an excessive expectation for any officer who actually is working.

So does that mean if a patrol supervisor expects traffic officers to write an average of 20 to 25 tickets a month as a minimum performance, and if he’s displeased with, say, a lessthan-motivated officer who writes 15 tickets a month, that the supervisor is actually “requiring” an unwritten quota of tickets?

This whole matter could well come down to a question of semantics. It will definitely be a lawsuit worth watching.

Keeping a close eye

No need to name names or identify any particular place here, since the message behind it could apply to almost any home we entrust to care for our loved ones.

The underlying message is that everyone with someone in a care home needs to carefully review the charts and treatment of those they care about. It’s saddest for me to imagine what becomes of those who have no one to look over the caregivers’ shoulders.

I was speaking with a prominent female professional in Northwest Arkansas the other day. She told of how disappointed she and her husband have been with the level of care his mother has received inside a local nursing home.

In fact, they’ve been downright shocked.

She said they began making notes on the times they have repeatedly caught a member of the home’s staff trying to administer medicine that wasn’t on his mother’s chart or otherwise dropping the ball even when it came to basic care and hygiene. She said their list has become rather lengthy in a matter of months.

Their experience is a cautionary one.

Once people with diminished physical and/or mental capacities are admitted to such a facility, they become pretty much at the mercy of the abilities, compassion and empathy of those who administer the care.

And, as state inspection reports have shown, all too often that level of care and concern can fall well short of expectations.

In short: Don’t let glistening floors or superficial impressions prompt mistaken assumptions. Trust until (or unless) trust is violated. And always verify what you are being told.

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Mike Masterson is opinion editor of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette’s Northwest edition.

Editorial, Pages 17 on 07/28/2012

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