Illinois Valley news., May 24, 2006, Page 18, Image 18

Page 18
Illinois Valley News, Cave Junction, OR Wednesday, May 24, 2006
ODOT announces Bear Camp Road open for travel
By CHIEF HARRY RICH,
ILLINOIS VALLEY FIRE DISTRICT
In order to help firefighters and paramedics get to emer-
gencies more quickly, keep noise down in your vehicle so that
you can hear sirens -- and when you hear a siren, remember:
*Look in all directions for emergency vehicles to plan
your next move, and be aware that there may be more than
one responding crew.
*If you are at a green light and hear sirens, look for emer-
gency vehicles before proceeding through the intersection.
*Don’t slam on your brakes.
*Don’t pull over suddenly.
*Use your blinkers to show emergency crews the direc-
tion you are moving.
*On the freeway, carefully move out of the lane used by
emergency crews: again, use your directional signals.
*Don’t try to outrun emergency vehicles.
*Don’t follow emergency vehicles too closely.
*Don’t stop at a spot where an emergency vehicle can’t get
around you.
*After the crew passes, carefully merge back into traffic.
Illinois Valley Fire District and American Medical Re-
sponse crews are seeing a growing number of motorists who
don’t yield for the lights and sirens of fire engines and ambu-
lances. It’s not only unlawful to impede the response of emer-
gency vehicles: you could be delaying life-saving medical help.
The U.S. Dept. of Transportation’s National Hwy. Traffic
Safety Administration has a program designed to educate the
public about the importance of yielding to emergency vehi-
cles. To learn more about “Let Them Through … It Could Be
You,” see the Website.
* * *
Here are the appropriate Oregon statutes:
*811.145 Failure to yield to emergency vehicle or ambulance;
penalty. (1) A person commits the offense of failure to yield to an
emergency vehicle or ambulance if an ambulance or emergency
vehicle that is using a visual or audible signal in a manner described
under ORS 820.300 and 820.320 approaches the vehicle the person
is operating and the person does not do all of the following:
(a) Yield the right-of-way to the ambulance or emergency vehi-
cle.
(b) Immediately drive to a position as near as possible and par-
allel to the right-hand edge of the curb of the roadway clear of any
intersection.
(c) Stop and remain in such position until the emergency vehi-
cle or ambulance has passed.
(2) A person is not in violation of this section if the person is
acting as otherwise directed by a police officer.
(3) This section does not relieve the driver of an emergency
vehicle or ambulance from the duty to drive with due regard for the
safety of all persons using the highway, nor does this section protect
the driver of any such vehicle from the consequence of an arbitrary
exercise of the right-of-way granted under this section.
(4) The offense described in this section, failure to yield to an
emergency vehicle or ambulance, is a Class B traffic violation.
*811.147 Failure to maintain safe distance from emergency ve-
hicle or ambulance; penalty. (1) A person operating a motor vehicle
commits the offense of failure to maintain a safe distance from an
emergency vehicle or ambulance if the person approaches an emer-
gency vehicle or ambulance that is stopped and displaying required
warning lights and the person:
(a) On a highway having two or more lanes for traffic in a sin-
gle direction, fails to:
(A) Make a lane change to a lane not adjacent to that of the
emergency vehicle or ambulance; or
(B) Reduce speed of the motor vehicle, if making a lane change
is unsafe.
(b) On a two directional, two-lane highway, fails to reduce the
speed of the motor vehicle.
(2) The offense described in this section, failure to maintain a
safe distance from an emergency vehicle or ambulance, is a Class B
traffic violation.
*Note: 811.147 was added to and made a part of the Oregon
Vehicle Code by legislative action, but was not added to ORS chap-
ter 811 or any series therein. See Preface to Oregon Revised Statutes
for further explanation.
*811.150 Interference with emergency vehicle or ambulance;
penalty. (1) A person commits the offense of interference with an
emergency vehicle or ambulance if the person does any of the fol-
lowing:
(a) Drives a vehicle following at a distance closer than 500 feet
any emergency vehicle or ambulance; that is traveling in response to
a fire alarm or emergency.
(c) Drives over an unprotected hose of a fire department laid
down on any highway, private road or driveway to be used at any
fire, alarm of fire or emergency.
(2) The following exemptions apply to this section:
(a) Nothing in this section prohibits a driver of an emergency
vehicle or ambulance from following within 500 feet of an emer-
gency vehicle or ambulance traveling in response to a fire alarm or
emergency, or from driving into or parking a vehicle in the area or
vicinity where such vehicles have stopped in response to an alarm or
emergency.
(b) Nothing in this section prevents any person from driving
over an unprotected hose of a fire department if the person first ob-
tains the permission of a fire official or police officer at the scene of
the fire, alarm of fire or emergency.
(3) The offense described in this section, interference with an emer-
gency vehicle or ambulance, is a Class B traffic violation.
Oregon Dept. of Trans-
portation (ODOT) crews
finished plowing Bear
Camp Road on Monday,
May 15 so that the single-
lane road with turnouts may
be available for travelers
during Memorial Day week-
end.
The popular road links
the communities of Galice
and Agness, running parallel
to Rogue River.
“Mother Nature really
helped us out this year with
the warmer temperatures,”
said ODOT District Man-
ager John Vail. Near the
summit, snowplows and
blowers cut through snow
drifts more than 8 feet deep.
Stretches along the flats had
up to 6 feet of snow.
With snow-plowing
completed, Bear Camp
Road still remains closed
and blocked by a slide.
U.S. Forest Service en-
gineers said that contractors
hired by the agency have
started the temporary slide
repair work needed on Forest
Road #23 (Bear Camp Road)
at milepost 34 on the Gold
Beach side. This temporary
fix will realign this segment
of the road and stabilize it.
Numerous hazard trees also
will need to be removed for
safety purposes.
During June, the public
will encounter maintenance
work being completed on
Bear Camp Road. Next year
the forest service will sched-
ule permanent repair work
to fix the slide area.
With Bear Camp Road
closed, travelers can take
either the Eden Valley road
(Forest Road 3348), which
is cleared of snow and pass-
able at this time, or U.S.
Hwys. 199 or 101.
BLM engineers said
that two access roads lead-
ing to Bear Camp also
should be open on Memorial
Day weekend.
The 6.5 mile Peavine-
Serpentine Springs route is
the primary travel route to
access Bear Camp. This is a
two-way travel route, nar-
row and steep in places with
a 10-ton load limit. The
agency plans for the
Peavine-Serpentine Springs
route to be open on Memo-
rial weekend.
In early June, BLM
managers will close the road
for approximately 45 days
to complete final road im-
provements. They will in-
clude chip-sealing, culvert
replacement and roadside
clearing for improved sight
distance on the remainder of
the Peavine Road.
By Memorial weekend,
the Galice Access Road may
also be open providing a
second access route to Bear
Camp Road. Currently, this
road is undergoing construc-
tion and has remained
blocked by a landslide some
4.5 miles from the junction
with Merlin-Galice Road.
U.S. Hwys. 199 and
101 are the recommended
routes for trailers, motor
homes and oversized vehi-
cles, as well as for all winter
travel. All drivers are re-
minded to drive cautiously
and with their lights on.
Laurel Cemetery Association
Annual Meeting and Potluck
Sunday, May 28
Meeting: 10:30 a.m.
Laurel Cemetery Chapel
Potluck: 11:00 a.m.
Senior Center
520 E. River, Cave Junction
Highway 199 Clothing Co.
x Cotton T-shirts
x Organic Headwear
x Hemp Ts, Tie-dyes
x Screen Printing
x Names & Numbers
x Teamwear
Special Orders:
Across from old Select Mkt. BUY LOCAL
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