Respect That Plow

WISCONSIN’S SNOWY ROADS

Where there’s lots of snow, there are lots of snowplows. And at least in this state, which has plenty of both, too many cars are colliding with the plows.

AFSCME members operate thousands of those plows, at the county, municipal and state levels. The union’s Wisconsin leadership has therefore tried repeatedly to get the legislature to enact laws restricting the conditions under which cars can pass snowplows on the highway and requiring that cars remain at least 200 feet behind moving plows.

Although such legislation seems like a shoo-in, efforts to pass it failed three times during the 1990s alone. One impediment to passage: a concern that the new law would conflict with a current one that makes municipalities liable for accidents involving public vehicles. In addition, the last effort floundered when the state House and Senate each passed the bill overwhelmingly — and then refused to take up the other’s version in conference committee.

The latest push gained momentum from a blizzard-plagued December and the deaths of three Wisconsinites — two motorists and a pedestrian — shortly before last Christmas. One man died when the car he was driving was struck by a plow. Two men were killed when their car crashed into the back of one. And a woman scraping ice from her windshield died as the result of injuries suffered when she was hit by a plow.

On the eve of the 2001 legislative session, AFSCME strategists considered the chances of passage stronger this time. "We hope to get it through early," said one, "before the usual partisanship takes hold."