The Oregon Department of Transportation held an information-gathering meeting Tuesday in the Coos Bay City Council chambers to find out what Region 3 residents don't like about Oregon's roads. ODOT Region 3 includes Coos, Douglas and Lane counties, and portions of Curry and Josephine counties.

And, although only four people showed up, they talked for hours about the troubles facing local motorists, bicyclists and pedestrians.

The four were not just average citizens. They included Gold Beach Police Sgt. Corky Clark, Oregon State Police Sgt. Mike Stupfel, certified child-passenger safety technician Corey Wampler and ODOT maintenance representative Jim Risley.

Chief among the problems the four identified and actions suggested were:

€ a lack of dedicated OSP funding, which could be fixed through raised gasoline, alcohol and insurance taxes; increased vehicle-registration fees; and a sales tax.

If he could do anything, Stupfel said he would "turn back the clock to 1978, when we had dedicated funding to the OSP.

"Dedicated funding - that's the bottom line," he added. "The mission of OSP is traffic safety and you've removed the numbers."

That reduction has led to a shortage of grant funds, photographic radar systems, radar readerboards, decoy cars, speed bumps and drug-recognition experts to help with traffic-law enforcement, they said.

"You don't have to write tickets to reduce speed," said ODOT Community Programs Manager Walt McAllister, who led the meeting.

" ... and that's always been OSP's philosophy," Stupfel interjected.

€ a shortage of certified child-passenger safety technicians, who recommend and approve car-seat installations, in this region. To fix this, they suggested ODOT work to compensate trainees for their time during the 40-hour training session and offer video and Internet training sessions. They also suggested ODOT widely advertise the training and offer shorter sessions to whet trainees' appetites for the full 40-hour session.

€ the dangers presented to bicyclists who ride on McCullough Bridge's 30-inch-wide sidewalks. The group suggested the danger could be lessened with the installation of a separate bike path parallel to the bridge or a law mandating bicyclists walk their bikes across bridges.

€ pedestrians who are unaware of hitchhiking laws, jaywalking laws and Oregon's right-of-way preference for motorists.

"Aggressive driving works a lot better than aggressive pedestrianing," McAllister said.

The four also bemoaned the closing and disrepair of rest areas and suggested that could be combated with an increase in motor-vehicle registration fees.

Oregon Traffic Safety Commission board member Marian Owens, who remained silent for most of the meeting while listening to the group, was vocal in her support for this cause.

"Don't take down any more rest areas," she said.

The group also discussed the court system and said that inadequate education for jurors has created problems in prosecuting drunken-driving cases. Jurors often don't understand the difference between "intoxicated" and "legally intoxicated," they said.

"People think that if you're not at that level (0.08 blood-alcohol level), you're not intoxicated," Clark said.

On the issue of licensing, some suggested a review of the state's license re-testing cycle for elderly drivers.

"I'm not a proponent of giving an 82-year-old an eight-year license," Stupfel said.

Other issues identified as problems by the group included:

€ reductions in prosecution and indigent-defense funds at the state level.

€ a lack of fixed sites for child-seat inspections.

€ a lack of a community-level child-safety committee to facilitate communication between local groups that may be working to accomplish the same goals.

€ a shortage of both slow-moving-vehicle turnouts and citations given to slow drivers, which hampers efficient driving.

€ police officers who neither adequately police the use of child seats nor know how to spot an incorrectly installed child seat.

€ bicyclists who ride on Seven Devils Road, a sharply twisting arterial without a bike lane.

€ inconsistency in bike-lane signage and lane painting. They also suggested ODOT adopt a new color for bicycle signage.

€ the school crossing for Bunker Hill Elementary School students, who must traverse U.S. Highway 101.

€ no local Mothers Against Drunk Driving chapter and a lack of drunken-driving education in general.

€ an outdated victim impact panel that could be revamped by tying it to MADD.

€ the glare of motorcycle headlights in the daytime, which could be negated if ODOT would work with the National Highway Transportation Safety Association and state legislators to require motorcyclists to install modulating headlights, which dim inversely proportionate to natural light.

They also suggested ODOT work with state legislators to prevent the registration of motorcycles to unendorsed riders.

(Those who didn't attend the meeting but would still like to offer their suggestions can visit the ODOT's transportation safety Web site, http://www.odot.state.or.us/transafety/.)