Benjamin Disraeli claimed that there are three kinds of lies: lies, damnedlies, and statistics. Someone else unknown said that 78% of all statistics are made up on the spot. The letter in this weeks Star from Steve and MaryKay Fleace attempts to prove both statements.
First, on the question on madeup statistics, a review of the sources cited does not substantially support the numbers provided in their letter: in the case of bicycle pedestrian accidents they report “47 fatalities and 1,948 total accidents among bicyclists and pedestrians.”, yet the source shows for bicycles alone 11,335 crashes from 1996 - 2005 with 81 deaths and 9,915 injuries in the same period. In a report by the MNDOT (The Benefits of Bicycling in Minnesota 2004-50) there are 110,000 to 130,000 people riding bikes on a typical spring/summer day (low), suggesting an accident rate far lower than for other forms of transportation including ATVs. Conveniently left out is the number of ATV fatalities over a similar period: 114 killed (1995 thru 2004); considering that ATVs make up only a tiny fraction of the number of bicycles, the ATV rate of accident/death is appalling.
Second, concerning the third kind of lie, the use of an averaged 10 year period for ATV accidents is extremely misleading considering that the number of annual registrations in the first five years is less than half the number in the latter 5 years. Using that approach I can statistically claim that the fatalities in 2004 (24) compared to 1996 show a 6 fold increase and more than doubled the 2002 figure: ATVing doesn’t look quite as safe. Add in that the state effectively banned ATVs from the roads in 1985 and one should expect ATV accident numbers to drop dramatically.
When looking at the school bus figures the number of buses is said to be about 14,000 but left out of the equation is the fact that those 14,000 buses carried 843,083 kids (1999), the presence of which certainly needs to be factored into the fatality/injury figures.
Third, the authors make much of the application of the state statistics to the Cook County population base, simply overlooking the fact that the accident rate for motor vehicles is more than three times higher in rural counties than their urban counterparts.
Lastly, Rhonda, is your own impassioned plea for open use on the roads. You apparently have not been inconvenienced by the current status, having been able to drive to and from work and around town without restraint. In fact, if it was only for you or a couple of others that might claim some medical disabilities for not walking or bicycling, I might support granting a special permit allowing such use, but the truth is that the proposed county ordinance applies to everyone, yes everyone of the 223,714 (2004) recreational machines out there, and while not all of them are coming to Grand Marais, enough of them will come to make life less pleasant for the silent sports visitors that contribute much, much more to our local economy.
fastjerry
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Fact Check Please,
The Cook County Star needs to institute a policy of basic editing standards and fact checking.
For example, this last Tuesday, teh Star reported: "At present there are no ATV trails in Cook County, per se, and ATV users are required to drive their vehicles on the outer ditch slope of County Roads." These are outright false statements - not just misleading, but patently false.
Here is a link to the just released U. S. Forest Service map of OHV (that includes ATVs) trails in Cook County: http://www.fs.fed.us/r9/forests/superior/recreation/atv_trails/documents/ohv_tabloid_gun.pdf
Clearly there are many, many miles of ATV trails in the county!
As for being required to ride in the ditches, ATV riders choose to ride. They choose to by an ATV; they choose to ride an ATV. If they choose to ride in a county roadway, they are then required to keep to the ditch and off the road, but the choice of when and where to ride or to ride at all is a choice the ATV rider makes. No one forces them to ride anywhere!
I totally agree with fast jerry that the Cook County Star is a blatant proponent of ATV riding and of allowing ATV users to ride anywhere in the county, and this bias is reflected in their reporting on this issue. While there is nothing wrong with advocacy on the editorial page, there is something wrong with a clear bias in reporting and certainly something wrong in terms of ethics when the editor of a paper is a loud and public advocate for one side in an issue that is as controversial as ATVs have become in Cook County.
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