Snowmachines legal on Bethel streets

BETHEL - A new ordinance allowing snowmachines and four-wheelers on city streets has police and health workers worried that vehicle crashes will become more deadly this winter.

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Like communities all over the state, the western Alaska city is facing painfully high gas prices. The ordinance was passed in September as a way to help residents save money on fuel.

Councilman Stanley "Tundy" Rodgers proposed the ordinance, saying it will help people afford gasoline. Off-road vehicles get much better gas mileage than cars or trucks, he said.

But police are predicting bloodier accidents and the local hospital is warning open-air motorists in the city of 6,000 to strap on their helmets.

The machines don't mix with the taxis, trucks and flatbed trailers, Police Chief Ben Dudley said. ATVs and snowmachines are designed for snow or mud. They can't turn and stop quickly on black ice or thin snow, he said.

"I foresee a rise in accidents, and I'm anticipating a rise in personal-injury-type accidents, because you don't have the protection of a vehicle body around you," Dudley said.

In Bethel, Brian Lefferts, an injury-control manager for the hospital, said last week that accidental injuries are the third most common cause of death in that region. Half of those injuries involve alcohol, he said.

The hospital is urging drivers not to drink, to wear helmets and other safety gear, and to make sure tow lines for sleds are rigid bars, not a rope or cable.

Snowmachines and all-terrain vehicles are used for everything from hunting caribou to hauling fuel to taxiing passengers to airstrips. But Bethel hasn't allowed them on roads for years.

Accidents won't necessarily increase, said Mark Springer, vice chair for Bethel's transportation and public safety commission.

"If people obey traffic laws and drive without impairment, there should not be a particularly greater risk for accidents," he said.

The City Council passed the ordinance in late September. Riders can use the roughly 25 miles of city streets but not state-maintained roads such as the 4.4-mile Chief Eddie Hoffman Highway.

Putting off-road vehicles on roads doesn't lead to more accidents, but does cause more gruesome injuries, said Chief John Ward of Kotzebue. Like Bethel, the Northwest Alaska city of 3,100 is a hub for surrounding villages.

"I can have 15 cars or trucks pile up and no one's seriously hurt, but one snowmachine wreck" can cause severe head injuries or worse, he said.

Alice Ruby, Dillingham mayor, said snowmachines and ATVs are allowed on some city roads in that Southwest community of 2,400. But they're illegal in the town center containing most of the public buildings and stores, she said.

Snowmachine and ATV traffic has been light since the new law allowed them on roads three weeks ago, Dudley said. But it will increase when the Kuskokwim River connecting villages to Bethel freezes solid. That's when out-of-towners roar up to Bethel's stores to buy groceries.

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Information from: Anchorage Daily News, http://www.adn.com