Caution on highway can save lives

A recent rash of tragedies on Flathead Valley highways — four fatalities in six days — should be a reminder of a seasonal maxim:

Be careful out there.

This is the season when traffic swells on our roadways as the summer influx of visitors (remember, we invite them here) begins to arrive.

Many of those tourists are unfamiliar with our highways and have the added impediment of gawking at our scenery, so it behooves all of us to be more careful when we’re behind the wheel. A little courtesy, along with defensive driving, can go a long way to avert highway disaster.

Not only is the traffic load increasing, but also the speeds seem to rise along with temperatures. Let’s all be more cautious.

Get a handle on the problem

None of us likes to see people down on their luck, but we don’t like to see people take advantage of the good will of our neighbors either.

That about sums up the dilemma that faces the Kalispell City Council as it makes its decision on how the city should handle a growing problem of panhandling on city streets.

A proposed ordinance, which appears to have considerable support, would take some reasonable steps to control the problem such as forbidding panhandlers from begging within 20 feet of an intersection or from people in vehicles. Other proposals under consideration would include prohibiting panhandlers from making false or misleading statements, from blocking a person’s path or from panhandling more than five days a year without a permit.

These may seem harsh or unenforceable, but that’s not the point. We are confident that such a law would aptly represent the will of our citizens, most of whom don’t want to be harassed for money by people who may or may not be honest about their needs.

If people are worried how this might negatively impact some panhandlers with legitimate problems that prevent them from seeking gainful employment, then the next step might be to find a way to get word to panhandlers about the many social services available to them.

Those programs exist precisely to make sure that people don’t have to go begging for their next meal, and they are a more appropriate way to care for the less fortunate among us than throwing  money at them.

Editorials represent the majority opinion of the Daily Inter Lake’s editorial board.